Chapter 19 · Recall Order

"Hands off the wall." The command cut through the service corridor before Daniel could touch the concrete.

He jerked back. No one stood behind him. No one stood ahead. The voice had come from the dead air itself, flat and close enough to raise the hair on his neck.

"Who are you?" Daniel spun toward the platform. "Show yourself."

Only flickering lights answered him.

A hot point opened beneath his left shoulder blade. Not an ache. A precise, burning line, as if someone were carving a map into his bone.

"Shit." He pressed his back to the wall anyway.

The cold tile didn't help. The pain spread around his ribs and drove into his chest. He pulled out his phone, saw Mark's name at the top of his recent calls, and nearly hit it.

What was he supposed to say? *Hey, my back's on fire, and a voice just ordered me around?*

The burn sharpened.

Daniel's feet moved.

He pushed away from the wall and headed down the corridor, away from the station exit. His training took over before panic could. Camera above the service door. Blind spot near the pipes. Loose lock.