“We are trying to find this tenant. It’s urgent.”

She pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. “Well, we have this international student who specifically requested the penthouse apartment so her cellular signal would not be blocked—”

“Is there only one penthouse?”

“Yes, it’s the fifteenth floor,” the superintendent said.

“Don’t come up there. There will be several backups arriving in the next few minutes. Keep your tenants off that floor. Understand?” The superintendent nodded. “Now I need you to wait in the lobby to let in backup.”

They strode into the foyer. Riley tapped Cooper on the arm. “I’ll secure the stairwell. You take the elevator.”

Of the two of them, she was the triathlete. “Got it.”

As soon as he entered the elevator, he dropped into shooting stance. When he exited the elevator on the fifteenth floor, gun ready, he saw Riley was already by the door to the penthouse.

“Police! Open the door!” Cooper yelled.

No sound came from within.

“Police! Open the door!”

It was quiet.

Too quiet.

Cooper aimed his gun at the door lock, fired, and flung open the door. He smelled the blood before he saw the body. Face down, in an alarmingly large pool of red. “Damn it,” he muttered, and stepped through the doorway.

Riley followed him, and knelt by Matt Leon. She pushed her fingers against his throat, face intent. Ellis skirted around the hacktivist, and disappeared into the bathroom. It was empty. No sign of struggle. Within seconds, he emerged. He headed into the living room.

It was easy to see that it had been abandoned. There was no clutter, and minimal furniture. His gaze was drawn to the computer monitor, where rows of script raced down the screen.

The code had been launched.

“Damn!” He raced into the bedroom, but there was no sign of Tr0lz. Or anyone.

He ran back into the living room and searched for the ‘off’ button on the computer. But then he paused. What if he shut down the computer, but the code had been uploaded elsewhere? And they didn’t know where?

This computer might be their only chance to abort the exploit.

He yanked his phone out of his pocket and dialed Murphy’s number. To his relief, the cyber analyst answered right away.

“The exploit has been launched,” Cooper said. “Can you get here fast?”

“I’m still at the airport.” Murphy had gone out with the SIRT team in case he had to override the air traffic control system.

Sweat began to run down Cooper’s temples. “Tell me what to do.”

“This is complex…” Murphy took a deep breath. “But we can try a few basic commands. See if that aborts it.”

But none of them worked.