Page 198 of Black Reign

VESPER: 911.

I swallow.

Type again.

VESPER: KIDNAPPED. REAL. NOT A GAME.

My bloody fingers slip.

I wipe them against my trousers.

VESPER: THEY KNOW WHO I AM. THEY KNOW MY FATHER.

Footsteps outside.

My heart slams.

I type faster.

VESPER: I NEED YOU.

Then the hardest thing I've ever given another human being.

Access.

Not a breadcrumb.

Not a photograph.

Not a false trail.

Me.

VESPER: LOCATION OPEN. COME NOW. BRING YOUR PEOPLE.

I activate the emergency permission.

Everything I spent years protecting becomes available to Ghost for one narrow purpose.

Find me.

The door handle moves.

I send the last message.

VESPER: PLEASE, XAVIER.

Then I kill the connection.

The door opens.

Time becomes ugly after that.

Questions.

Silence.

Threats.