Jay's POV
The moment I arrived at the base, I headed straight for the computer room.
Zane was already waiting for me, with Edrix seated beside him.
"You're here," Zane said.
"Obviously. Now, tell me what you found."
He turned his laptop towards me.
The photograph I'd received earlier appeared on the screen.
"Where did this document come from?" I asked.
"We traced it to an account that has been inactive for quite some time. Someone recently accessed it."
"Who?"
"That's the problem. Whoever it was covered their tracks."
Edrix turned around in his chair.
"And there's something else."
I looked at him.
"Someone attempted to access information connected to your old activities. We couldn't identify them, but they were looking for specific records."
I frowned.
"Which records?"
"Some of the information from two years ago."
I leaned against the desk.
"Wonderful. Just wonderful."
Zane looked at me.
"There's no confirmation that it's connected to the person Rory saw."
"Speaking of Rory, I want to hear exactly what he remembers."
Zane nodded.
"There's one more thing. The location attached to the document is close to the area where Rory spotted that stranger."
I straightened.
"How close?"
"Close enough to make us suspicious. But we haven't established a connection."
I stared at the screen.
Something wasn't right.
Someone was looking into my past, someone was watching Section E, and now we had a location that might connect both incidents.
I rubbed my forehead.
"Keep investigating. Don't alert anyone outside this room until we know what we're dealing with."
"Understood," Zane replied.
I was about to say something else when my phone started ringing.
I looked at the screen.
Unknown Number.
I frowned.
"Who's that?" Edrix asked.
"I don't know."
I answered.
"Hello?"
For a few seconds, there was silence.
"Hello? Who is this?"
Then a voice came through.
"Jasper Jean Mariano Fernandez."
My heart skipped.
Nobody outside my circle usually used my full name.
"Who are you?"
A quiet chuckle came from the other end.
"Still as impatient as ever."
I stood straighter.
"Who the hell is this?"
"Careful, Jay. You don't want to be rude to someone who has something you want."
My stomach tightened.
"What are you talking about?"
The person paused.
Then came the words.
"I have your mom and grandma."
My entire body went cold.
"What?"
I barely recognised my own voice.
"Your mother and grandmother," the caller repeated. "They're with me."
"No."
The word escaped before I could think.
I shook my head, even though the person couldn't see me.
"No, that's not possible."
Zane looked up immediately.
I gripped my phone.
"Where are they? What have you done to them?"
The caller laughed softly.
"You're going to have to listen carefully, Jay."
"WHERE ARE THEY?!"
My voice cracked.
I could hear Zane asking what was happening, but his words barely reached me.
My mother.
My grandmother.
No.
No, no, no.
"Please," I whispered, my voice trembling. "Don't hurt them."
The call suddenly ended.
I stared at my phone.
For a moment, I couldn't move.
Then I tried calling my mother.
Once.
Twice.
Again.
No answer.
I called my grandmother.
Nothing.
My breathing became uneven.
"Jay?"
Zane stood up.
I looked at him, my eyes already filling with tears.
"Zane..."
My voice broke.
"They have my mum and grandma."
The phone slipped slightly in my trembling hand.
And suddenly, I couldn't think about anything else.