Upstairs. Living room.
They were exactly where I expected them to be.
Jocelyn had kicked off her heels and was standing near the bar holding a glass of something expensive.
Trent was leaning against the counter, relaxed now, comfortable.
He was laughing.
That part almost impressed me.
They really thought they were safe.
Jocelyn took a sip and shook her head.
“She’ll fold,” she said. “Give it ten minutes.”
Trent smirked.
“She doesn’t have a choice. No signal, no access, no leverage.”
Jocelyn added, “She’s just sitting down there with a piece of paper.”
I watched them in silence.
No reaction. Just observation.
Trent lifted his glass slightly.
“To easy solutions.”
Jocelyn clinked hers against it.
“To finally fixing this mess.”
I let that sit for a second.
Fixing.
That’s what they called it.
I zoomed the feed slightly.
Picked up audio.
Clear enough.
Jocelyn exhaled slowly.
“Once we move the funds, we stabilize everything before Monday.”
Trent nodded.
“After that, it’s clean.”
Clean.
Right.
I leaned back in the chair again.
They had no idea the audit already had a starting point.
They had no idea their entire operation was already mapped.
And they definitely had no idea what five minutes in a sealed room actually meant.
T-minus 0:38.
The watch gave a faint pulse.
Final sync.
I didn’t look away from the screen.
Jocelyn set her glass down and crossed her arms.
“Honestly, I’m surprised she even pushed back.”
Trent shrugged.
“She’s always thought she was smarter than she is.”
That got a small smile out of me.
Not because it was funny.
Because it was predictable.
T-minus 0:20.
I closed the video feed.
No need to keep watching.
The outcome was already locked in.
T-minus 0:10.
I rested my hands on my knees and sat up slightly.
The room felt smaller again.
Not from pressure.
From timing.
0:05.
The watch vibrated once.
0:03. 0:02. 0:01.
The screen went blank for half a second, then reset.
No timer. No prompt. Just a clean interface.
Done.
I exhaled once, slow and steady, and let a small smile settle in.
“They really should have read the audit trail,” I said quietly.
Then I looked toward the door.
“Time’s up, Major.”
The second the timer cleared, I felt it before I heard it.
A shift.
Then everything above me went dead.
