The buzzing of the satellite phone sounded like an alarm bell in a graveyard. My instincts kicked in immediately, the "fixer" trying to reboot, but Dante’s arm was still heavy across my waist: a physical reminder that I wasn't the same person who had entered this house.
"Dante, the phone," I whispered, my heart starting to race.
He groaned, reaching over me to grab the device. One look at the screen and his entire posture changed. The sleepiness vanished, replaced by that sharp, "Soul" intensity. "Movement at the perimeter. Two black SUVs. They’re not waiting for an invitation, Elena."
"The gate sensors... they were supposed to give us a ten-minute lead," I said, scrambling to find my clothes in the dim light. My hands were shaking, and for the first time, I wasn't thinking about the data. I was thinking about us. "Dante, if they find us here, the case is over. Everything we just found, the links to the HQ, it’s gone."
"Not if we leave now," he said, already throwing his boots on. He grabbed my laptop bag and my hand in one swift motion. "Forget the rest of the stuff. Just the core drive and you. Let’s go."
Lumabas kami sa backdoor just as we heard the heavy thud of the front door being kicked in. The Tagaytay fog was thick, masking our escape as we scrambled down the slope toward the old service road where he parked the car. My lungs burned from the cold air, but the heat of Dante’s hand in mine was the only thing keeping me grounded.
Nang makarating kami sa sasakyan, he practically shoved me into the passenger seat. He floored the accelerator, the tires screeching against the wet asphalt.
"They’re behind us," I said, looking at the side mirror. Two sets of headlights were cutting through the fog, closing the gap. "Dante, they’re going to ram us."
"Let them try," he growled. He looked at me for a split second, and even in the middle of a chase, nandoon pa rin yung raw connection na naramdaman namin kagabi. "Elena, check the drive. See if you can ping the local server. We need to send that file to a dead-drop before they jam the signal."
I opened my laptop on my lap, my fingers flying across the keys. The car swerved violently as Dante took a sharp turn into a narrow dirt road.
"Signal is weak! I need three minutes, Dante!"
"I’ll give you five," he said, shifting gears. "Hold on tight."
Day fourteen. We were no longer just solving a crisis. We were running for our lives, and the only system I trusted now was the man beside me. The walls were gone, and the road ahead was unfiltered and dangerous.
0 Comments