A broad sheen stretched across part of the roadway before a descending bend.
Marcus's face tightened.
“Again.”
Victoria leaned forward.
“What is it?”
“Something on the road.”
Marcus slowed further.
A lead security vehicle moved ahead carefully.
Its driver radioed back.
“Surface contaminated. Unknown fluid. Significant slick area.”
Marcus looked at Elias.
“Another trap.”
Elias stared through the windshield.
“Probably.”
“How?”
“Doesn't matter.”
Marcus frowned.
“It matters to me.”
“Right now, what matters is that you don't drive into it at normal speed.”
He was right.
Marcus ordered the convoy to maintain distance and reduce speed.
They crossed the affected area carefully.
No sudden movements.
No unnecessary acceleration.
The vehicles remained stable.
Victoria barely breathed until they reached clean pavement.
Once clear, Marcus spoke.
“That's two independent failures along two route options.”
Elias corrected him.
“The second was on the original plan.”
Marcus nodded.
“Right.”
Victoria stared out the rear window.
“They built redundancy.”
“Yes,” Elias said.
“Meaning someone didn't trust one method to succeed.”
“Yes.”
Marcus looked grim.
“That takes resources.”
“And information.”
Victoria's jaw tightened.
Her board meeting came back into the conversation.
The meeting scheduled for nine the next morning was not routine.
Hale Cybernetics, the technology and advanced manufacturing company Victoria had built over nineteen years, was preparing for the most consequential vote in its history.
The company developed industrial cybersecurity systems, autonomous inspection platforms, and infrastructure monitoring technology used by public utilities, hospitals, and transportation networks.
For two years, Victoria had resisted pressure to sell a controlling stake to a multinational conglomerate called Orison Dynamics.
The proposed acquisition would make shareholders wealthy.
It would also transfer strategic control of several sensitive research programs.
Victoria opposed it.
So did three board members.
Four supported it.
Two remained undecided.
Tomorrow's meeting would settle whether Hale Cybernetics remained independent.
Elias listened.
“You think this is about a company vote.”
Victoria answered, “I think very little happens around me anymore that isn't somehow connected to that vote.”
Marcus added, “Threat level increased six weeks ago.”
“Specific?”
“Anonymous messages. Surveillance incidents. One attempted intrusion at her home.”
Elias looked at Victoria.
“And you still drove the same general corridor tonight.”
Marcus bristled.
“The route was changed twice.”
“And leaked at least once.”
Marcus's jaw tightened.
Victoria interrupted.
“Enough.”
She looked at Elias.
“What would you do?”
He disliked the question.
“About?”
“Tomorrow.”
“I'm not a security consultant.”
“No. You're someone who notices what everyone else assumes is fine.”
Elias thought.
“I'd separate the board meeting from the route that gets you there.”
Marcus nodded.
“We can move the meeting.”
Victoria shook her head.
“No.”
Marcus looked back.
“Victoria.”
“If I cancel because someone tried to frighten me off the vote, they win before it starts.”
“This was not intimidation.”
“I know.”
“It was attempted murder.”
“I know.”
“Then behave like you know.”
Silence.
Elias looked out the windshield.
He understood both of them.
Marcus's job was survival.
Victoria's identity was built around refusing coercion.
Neither was entirely wrong.
Marcus's radio crackled.
“Lead vehicle. Junction approaching.”
The road ahead widened at a blinking yellow light.
A side road disappeared between trees.
And just beyond the intersection sat a dark vehicle with its lights off.
Elias straightened.
Marcus noticed.
“You see it.”
“Yes.”
Victoria leaned forward.
“Vehicle?”
“Yes.”
The convoy slowed.
The parked car's engine appeared to be running.
Faint exhaust drifted in the cold.