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Chapters (86)
  1. Foreword
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. 3
  5. 4
  6. 5
  7. 6
  8. 7
  9. 8
  10. 9
  11. 10
  12. 11
  13. 12
  14. 13
  15. 14
  16. 15
  17. 16
  18. 17
  19. 18
  20. 19
  21. 20
  22. 21
  23. 22
  24. 23
  25. 24
  26. 25
  27. 26
  28. 27
  29. 28
  30. 29
  31. 30
  32. 31
  33. 32
  34. 33
  35. 34
  36. 35
  37. 36
  38. 37
  39. 38
  40. 39
  41. 40
  42. 41
  43. 42
  44. 43
  45. 44
  46. 45
  47. 46
  48. 47
  49. 48
  50. 49
  51. 50
  52. 51
  53. 52
  54. 53
  55. 54
  56. 55
  57. 56
  58. 57
  59. 58
  60. 59
  61. 60
  62. 61
  63. 62
  64. 63
  65. 64
  66. 65
  67. 66
  68. 67
  69. 68
  70. 69
  71. 70
  72. 71
  73. 72
  74. 73
  75. 74
  76. 75
  77. 76
  78. 77
  79. 78
  80. 79
  81. 80
  82. 81
  83. 82
  84. 83
  85. 84
  86. Afterword

They pulled up security camera footage from the night of the glitch. It showed Mansfield entering the building. It showed him passing security on the ground floor. It showed him signing in on the sixth floor. None of that was suspicious in itself. Mansfield had top-level clearance. He came and went as he pleased.

The tech zoomed in on the guest registry. Mansfield’s reason for visiting was a meeting with Roth.

“We don’t have a meeting with Mansfield on your schedule, sir,” the tech said. “The only item you had that night was a meeting with Laurel Everlane in the main conference room.”

“Yes,” Roth said. “I remember now. Mansfield came by unannounced. I missed the meeting with Laurel because of it.”

“As you know, there’s no surveillance footage inside your office, sir.”

“All right.”

The techs both turned to Tatyana.

“The footage shows you leaving with Mansfield before seven.”

“That’s right. We went to the third floor,” Roth said. “There was an emergency meeting regarding Ukraine. We went together. I was there when the glitch hit.”

“And was Mansfield still with you?” Tatyana said.

Roth looked at her. “I have no idea. Half the leadership was there. I don’t remember if Mansfield was there or not.”

They pulled up more footage, showing Mansfield leaving the briefing on the third floor and going back to the sixth floor.

“What’s he saying there?” Roth said, as Mansfield passed the receptionist.

The tech pulled in on the audio. He had to isolate the other sounds in the office. He cleared it a few times then played it. “Forgot my keys,” Mansfield said, as he passed the reception.

“That son of a bitch,” Roth said.

“The timestamp on the device, Levi. It’s 7:24 PM. It was planted exactly when Mansfield came back for his keys. The glitch occurred immediately afterward. At 7:25 PM. That was because of an error on Mansfield’s part. He probably hadn’t been trained properly with the device.”

“Mansfield’s the leak?” Roth said.

“Yes,” Tatyana said.

Roth looked down at the two cups of coffee that were still in his hands.

“Mansfield’s leading our bioweapon response,” he said. “He’s the president’s most trusted security advisor.”

Tatyana looked at him. “Levi, we’ve got to do something. Now.”

67

Lance, Sofia, Olga, and Vasily went to the only safe place they could think of. The train station.

They needed to get out of the city urgently, and Lance knew Moscow was the most likely place Laurel had been taken. Given that it was over a thousand miles away, he needed to be moving west sooner rather than later.

The airport was too dangerous. There was no way the four of them would slip through security there undetected, especially since Olga, Sofia and Vasily didn’t have fake credentials.