Kade forced himself to wait two hours, until the sky was as dark as it would be. He still had more questions than answers. But he couldn’t pass up an opportunity like this.

He rose, slipped on the sandals they’d given him, padded to the kitchen, looked out into the courtyard. It was dark out there. Only a few dim lights illuminated the space.

His eyes slowly adjusted. All was quiet. He could see no sign of movement.

He waited ten minutes, twenty minutes, half an hour. No one moved.

There might be someone in his range that he couldn’t see. Shiva might still be on the roof, soaking up the night view. He’d only know if he opened the metal frame, pushed the mesh shielding aside.

He had to do it, then. He damped his Nexus transmission, went into a listen-only mode. And then, slowly, he pulled the padlock open, slid it out of the lock, as subtly as he could.

Then he took one more deep breath, and pulled on the frame, tugging it in towards him on its hinges. It was jammed from disuse. He tugged slowly and consistently, until it came loose with a scrape, swinging open just a crack.

His breath caught in his throat. The Faraday cage was broken.

He positioned himself by the crack he’d opened, felt out with his mind for anything out there.

Nothing. No one in range.

He opened the frame wider, gave himself a wider transmission angle to work with, reached out again.

Nothing.

Kade looked for network connections. He found several, but all locked, encrypted.

He visualized the mansion’s layout. At one end of the courtyard was a gate and a gatehouse, where he’d always seen a guard. He couldn’t see the gate from here. But if he could get close enough, and the guard was still there… Then Kade could take him. Could have the man open the gate, lead him to a car and then a boat, show him how to get off the island.

But first, he must get close enough.

He looked out his window again, opened his mind wide for any trace of another. Nothing. But below his window… A trellis, climbing up to maybe four feet below his window ledge. It was covered in tropical flowering vines. He could climb down that, reach the ground, sneak in the darkness towards the south wing…

Kade had to try it. He wouldn’t get another chance.

He put one foot out over the ledge, and suddenly he had vertigo. His room was on the fifth floor. The ground looked frighteningly far away. This wasn’t a climbing gym, with smart ropes and impact-absorbing floor. This was real life. A fall could break an arm or leg. Or worse.

No choice, he told himself.