Page 136 of Override

Three minutes later, another denial flashes across the screen.

I don't swear. I don't slam my laptop shut. I just stare.

For the last twenty-six hours, I've tried everything I know.

The estate's security cameras. The smart televisions. The irrigation controller buried somewhere beneath the landscaping. The lighting automation. The gate access. Hell, I even spent forty-five minutes trying to hijack the robotic pool cleaner just to see if it connected to the old network.

Nothing.

Every road I've built over the last several months now ends the same way. A locked door.

The only victory I'd managed came yesterday afternoon when I found a way into Ronan's phone.

Eighteen minutes. That's how long I'd had it. Eighteen minutes of watching him walk through the house while I searched every reflection, every doorway, every room, hoping to catch the smallest glimpse of Maeve.

The kitchen.

Nothing.

The dining room.

Nothing.

The library.

Nothing.

Then he'd walked into his office, set the phone on his desk beside a half-finished cup of coffee...

...and never picked it up again.

For six hours I'd watched that office. The leather chair. The framed degrees on the wall. The steam slowly disappearing from his coffee. I knew exactly how the afternoon sunlight moved across the hardwood floor.

I still hadn't seen Maeve.

My fingers find the edge of the desk before I realize they're moving.

Two taps. Pause. Two taps. Pause.

The office door opens quietly behind me.

"You've been staring at that screen long enough to burn a hole through it." Matt's voice is calm, almost amused, but I hear the concern underneath it.

"I know."

He walks over carrying two mugs of coffee, setting one beside my keyboard before lowering himself into the chair across from me. He doesn't speak right away. He simply studies the room the same way he studies every mission.

The failed exploit windows. The code still running useless scans. The satellite maps spread across one monitor. The frozen image from Ronan's abandoned office on another.

When he finally looks back at me, he sighs. "You're not hacking your way through this one."

"I'm close."

A small smile tugs at the corner of his mouth. "No, Keaton. You're stubborn."

I finally drag my eyes away from the monitor. "They replaced everything."

"I know."