Chapter 20 · Traceless - Chapter 20: Wake the Third

Cole's hand was still shaking when they hit the street. Not from fear. From whatever the hell his blood was doing under his skin, pulling him back toward the building they'd just left.

Layla was three steps ahead, her breath coming fast. Vera had disappeared the second they cleared the loading dock—no goodbye, no threat, just gone. Smart. Cole would've put her through a wall if she'd stayed within reach.

"Cole." Layla stopped under a broken streetlight. "Your nose is bleeding."

He swiped at it. His fingers came away red. "I'm fine."

"You're not." She stepped closer, her voice dropping. "What she said in there—about the programming—"

"Doesn't matter." He cut her off because if he let her finish that sentence he'd have to admit Vera was right. That everything he'd felt since the first time he'd seen Layla wasn't real. That HQ had wired him like a damn hound and pointed him at a target.

Layla's phone buzzed.

She pulled it out, and her face went white.

"What?"

She turned the screen toward him. A single message, timestamp marked eighteen years ago but delivered thirty seconds ago.