The man was about to turn around when his body suddenly froze.
"Trace the real-time location of the phone number I'm about to call. Then forget about this."
The analyst laid both hands flat on the keyboard, his ten fingers blurring as the interfaces on the main console rapidly changed. A covert data channel was forcibly opened.
"The port is ready. Tracking can begin at any time," the analyst reported, his eyes fixed on the coordinate axes at the center of the screen.
Lucian took a burner phone from his pocket and opened the only number saved in its contacts.
It was Hughie's phone number.
A long ringing tone came through the earpiece.
Time ticked by. Apart from the monotonous ringing, there was no response.
At the main console, the analyst's hands hovered over the keyboard, waiting for the data feedback the instant the call connected.
A long silence.
Although the phone wasn't switched off this time, it rang for so long that Lucian thought no one would answer and was about to hang up when-
The call connected.
A slightly nervous male voice came through.
"Hello?"
Lucian nodded to the analyst at the keyboard.
The analyst began working. A progress bar crept up the screen, and he silently mouthed that he needed more time on the call to lock onto the cell tower signal.
"It's Lucian."
A sound of unmistakable shock and panic came through the earpiece, followed by Hughie's angry, restrained demand.
"What are you calling me for?!"
That reaction isn't right.
Lucian quickly went over the details of what had happened on the rooftop.
The scene had been chaotic, with deafening explosions and building debris flying everywhere.
Kimiko had been desperate to escape with her brother. She hadn't had time to make out the face of the