Third Hour

by Lisa Phillips

  Talia said, “There’s also no Wi-Fi signal.”

  “Could be he cleared out?” When she nodded, Mason went on. “Maybe he did what he needed to, packed up, and left nothing behind him.”

  Talia tipped her head to the side for a second. “I think I would prefer that even if it did make this a waste of time.”

  Ahead of them, Niall slowed at the tree line. Beyond him sat a low, one-story house that looked like something out of a futuristic movie. Lots of glass. Clean lines that moved to a point at the front of the house so that it had a wall of windows at the south end, where the sun shone down as it moved overhead.

  For Sale sign in the yard.

  “I really liked this house.” Talia sighed. “I’m not buying it now.”

  Mason wasn’t sure she’d like his bachelor town house either. “I’ve been thinking about moving as well. You’ll have to show me what you’ve found. Maybe we can go look at a few together?”

  Niall spun around. “We need to focus right now, not be setting up a date.”

  “Right.” It sounded more like a “sorry” should have been said. But it wasn’t like he’d intended to just ask her out right now. He knew it should wait until later. “Let’s go.”

  He led the way to the house, watching all angles for movement. Then he studied the house. “I don’t see cameras. Or security lights.”

  “It’s all tied to the system. The one that’s getting no power right now.” Talia’s voice was behind him. “Did he leave already?”

  Mason was going to meet any threat to her, head on.

  They stopped at the front door, and she drew a portable battery pack from her purse. It looked like one of those phone chargers Rayna bought him for when he went on airplanes. She popped a panel from the siding by the door lock and plugged in the power source. Within a minute, she’d gained access. The front door slid aside, moving into the frame of the wall like a single elevator door.

  “How do realtor’s get in, if you had to hack the lock?”

  She stowed the battery pack in her purse. “I didn’t hack it. I used the access code I got from the realtor’s computer system. The power is turned on when someone is coming to look at the house.”

  Mason wasn’t sure he exactly understood but she’d stepped inside, so he followed to make sure she didn’t get surprised by someone hiding inside. Then he turned to Haley. “Stay with her.”

  The former navy petty officer nodded.

  He and Niall cleared the house. Stale air, bare floors and walls. A layer of dust on the kitchen counters. He moved back to the front door. “No sign anyone’s been here in weeks.”

  Talia frowned. “But he was here.”

  “Maybe.” Mason shrugged. “Ready to get to work?”

  She moved past him, saying nothing, and headed for the network closet. Niall and Haley had a low conversation by the front door, with the NCIS agent doing most of the talking. His girlfriend shot him a look that made him smile.

  Mason turned to watch Talia, knowing they’d keep an eye out but also give them privacy. Talia plugged a micro SD cable from her tablet into a port on the rack in front of her. She tapped and swiped the screen.

  “I should be able to connect. Then it won’t take long to copy everything.” She shivered. “I’m ready to get out of here. This place is kind of creepy.”

  “Does the server have power going to it?” He glanced at the display. None of the lights were on.

  “I’m just about to fire it up.”

  And why did that make him nervous? She glanced at him. “Thanks for coming with me.”

  Before he could nod, the server behind her lit up and began to whir.

  She glanced at it. “Why is…”

  The front door slid shut.

  Haley pressed the button beside the door. “It’s not opening.” She turned to them, wide eyed. “We’re locked in.”

  Chapter 19

  “Hold this.” Talia handed Mason the tablet now running a program that would copy everything.

  “Did you turn the power back on?”

  She didn’t glance back. “No, I didn’t. That happened all by itself.” The front door was shut. “The panel to open it is outside.”

  Niall shifted beside her. “Isn’t there a way to access it from in here?”

  The wall beside the front door was at right angles. “Inside this wall.”

  “I’ll figure out what’s on the other side.”

  She nodded. “The garage, I think.”

  He wandered off, long strides taking him to the garage door fast.

  “The copy is complete.”

  She glanced at Mason. “Pull the cord.” Then she had an idea. “Wait.” She strode over.

  “Waiting.” When she neared him, he handed over the tablet.

  Haley crossed the room behind her. “I’ll search for an alternate exit.”

  Talia swiped the screen of the tablet. She looked for a part of the program she could access through the server. A way to open the door.

  “No way to get into the garage,” Niall said. “I’m going to look for something to make a hole in the wall.” But he didn’t move away just yet. “Did you know we might not be able to get out if the door shut?”

  “I left it open.”

  Mason shifted. “Why don’t you go find a crowbar, or something?”

  Niall shot him a look, but wandered off.

  “Is he always like that?”

  Talia shrugged. “He doesn’t like being trapped. Or drugged.”

  Mason frowned.

  “Long story.” She kept looking at the tablet. Mason moved to the window and placed both hands against it. Fingers splayed.

  She glanced over and said, “It’s tempered glass.” Then went back to her tablet screen.

  There had to be a way to access house controls even without Wi-Fi. The house had an internal network that had nothing to do with an internet connection. Though it was possible to activate that function and control the house…remotely.

  “No. There wasn’t a connection when we got here. There wasn’t even power to the house, there’s no way he…”

  Mason walked back over. “You didn’t shut the door, right?”

  “No.”

  “Is it possible—”

  “Don’t say it.”

  He set a hand on her shoulder. “We knew this was a possibility. You said yourself when you were on the phone with Victoria that you agreed with her, and this could be a trap. We all came anyway.”

  “We should have made the others wait outside.”

  If something happened to them because the hacker had targeted her, Talia didn’t know what she would do.

  “You don’t even know for sure this is him.” Mason squeezed her shoulder, then let his hand drop. “Could be some function timed out, and the door shut on its own. To keep out the cold so the house isn’t powerless with the front door open. You don’t know that he’s accessing the house.”

  “He isn’t.” She shifted the tablet so he could see the screen, just not slow enough he’d see it as an invitation to take the thing. Or read everything on the display. “There’s no connection coming in, or going out. Nothing. He isn’t—”

  Niall strode back in. “No crowbars.”

  Haley was right behind him. “And no other way out of…” Her voice trailed off as her attention was snagged by something.

  On the other side of the living room window, Dakota walked across the grass. Haley rushed to the window. She waved, trying to get Dakota’s attention. Neema trotted out from behind a bush and caught up to the Homeland agent. Dakota reached down and patted the dog’s head.

  Haley banged on the glass. “Dakota!”

  The homeland agent continued walking.

  Haley banged harder.

  Josh brought up the rear. He passed in front of the window behind Dakota and their dog. Haley banged on the glass. Niall moved to her side and did the same.

  Josh glanced over at the window. He frowned and moved closer. Talia
saw him glance aside and call out to Dakota.

  “I can’t hear what he said.” Haley glanced at Niall.

  “Me either.” Worry bled through his tone. “The glass is totally soundproof.”

  “And there’s no window to open.”

  Josh took a step toward the glass. Haley and Niall started up again, banging fists on the glass. It was loud enough to threaten Talia with a headache. Josh didn’t seem to even hear it.

  They got louder, banging hard enough she was sure the glass would break.

  “He can’t hear them.” Talia wanted to clasp Mason’s hand.

  Niall and Haley kept banging, trying to get Josh’s attention. She watched him lean close to the glass. Use both hands to shield his eyes from light outside as he peered in with his nose to the window.

  “He can’t see in.” The words slipped from her mouth.

  “Is there a way to turn on the lights in here, somehow? Try to make it so he can see us?”

  She looked at the tablet. “I didn’t power up the server.” But if she did that now, would she have more control over the mechanisms? She got the power bank out and plugged it in one handed. She used her tablet to ask the system to open the door.

  Unable to comply.

  She tried the windows, a command to get any of them to open. When that didn’t work, she tried to get the system to roll up the garage door.

  Unable to comply.

  She bit back the urge to mutter a curse. “It’s not working. I have no control.”

  “So who does?”

  No one needed to answer that question. Talia choked down the regret at having brought all her friends here. She should have forced them to stay back. Left the office before they knew she was gone. This was her fight.

  Mason walked over to the front door.

  What if one of them got hurt? She didn’t want that happening. It would be her fault. And worse, she would probably have to watch them get hurt. Maybe even die.

  Tears blurred the screen of her tablet.

  A loud crash made her start. She looked up to find Mason shaking out his hand, a hole in the drywall beside the door. He’d punched a hole in the wall?

  Mason lifted his foot next and used the sole of his shoe to kick the hole in the wall. He made a bigger opening. Set his foot down. Coughed.

  Something snagged in Talia’s throat. She had to cough as well. Had the dust gotten all the way over to her already?

  Niall and Haley quit banging on the window.

  “It’s no use.” Haley sounded so defeated.

  Talia looked back at the tablet while Mason pulled chunks of drywall away. She needed to finish up here so she could connect to the front door lock mechanism the same way she had outside.

  Nothing else she tried worked.

  Talia yanked the cord out, too frustrated to worry if she’d broken it or not. She had a spare in her purse.

  Gathering up her things, she strode to the front door.

  Mason had his head practically inside the hole he’d made in the wall.

  “Can you see it?” She had to cough again to get all the words out.

  He pulled back. “Maybe.”

  She had the cord all ready, prepared to get out of here as quickly as possible. Being locked in with no way out was beyond freaky.

  Niall wandered to the middle of the room and looked at a vent high on the wall that ended where the front entry gave way to the open plan living area.

  “Guys. We have a problem.” Then he sniffed. “There’s something coming out of the vent. And it doesn’t smell too good.”

  . . .

  “Give me that plug.”

  She handed the end of the cord over. Mason didn’t waste time sticking his head back in the wall to guide the plug to the rear of the panel. Maybe this would work, or maybe not. But they were all coughing now. Whatever was being pumped through the vent was going to build up until they passed out…or worse. This hacker guy had to be controlling it all still. Or he’d set layers of failsafes. She was at his mercy.

  All their lives in danger.

  “Got it.” He pulled his head out.

  “Thanks.” Talia’s voice was a whisper, but he couldn’t allow emotion to slow him down right now.

  Mason moved to the door he figured led to the garage, on the other side of the wall he’d just made a hole in. He lifted his foot and kicked at the door beside the handle. Much tougher material than the wall. Fire door? Maybe. Kind of felt like it was metal.

  He lowered his foot. No damage.

  Mason knocked on it with his knuckles. Sure sounded like it was solid. He touched his ear to the door and listened. “I think I can hear a rumble on the other side.” But he didn’t know what it was.

  Niall wandered over. “Like what?”

  Mason shrugged. If he knew, he’d have said.

  “Uh-oh.”

  Mason looked at Talia first—still working on her tablet—before he looked to see what Haley was talking about. The former navy non-commissioned officer took a step back. Beyond the glass, Dakota had her gun out. She pointed it at the glass of the window.

  Niall yelled, “Down!”

  Haley dived to the floor and hit the tile with a grunt.

  Two bullet holes splintered the outside of the glass. Tiny cracks splayed out, not more than three or four inches from the point of impact. The rounds had both embedded in the glass. Mason walked to the window while Niall helped Haley off the floor.

  Dakota holstered her weapon, pretty much ignoring whatever Josh was saying to her.

  Mason stared at the bullets up close. The impact had been localized to the area around where they hit. No damage to the window any wider than his hand span. What on earth was this window made out of?

  He had to cough.

  “Any progress on getting that door open?”

  Talia shook her head and let out a frustrated sound. “I hate you right now.”

  Mason didn’t know if she was referring to the tablet, or the hacker he figured was responsible for trapping them in here.

  Haley was by the vent again. “I think it’s like carbon monoxide. Like the toxic fumes from car exhaust.”

  “That means we don’t have long before we’re going to have serious problems.” Niall put his arm around her. “Let’s go check all the doors and windows again. Maybe there’s a panic room, or another exit we haven’t found.”

  Talia said, “Master bedroom closet. It was on some of the plans I looked at, but not others. It might be there. So don’t get your hopes up.”

  “Got it,” Niall called back to her as they made their way down the hall.

  Dakota and Josh had moved away from the window outside. Where had they gone? The last he’d seen of them, it appeared they’d figured out that something was wrong.

  Mason moved toward Talia, pulling out his phone. “Something is blocking my cell signal.”

  She nodded. “I figured as much. He’s giving us no way to call out.”

  “While he suffocates us with engine fumes.”

  Were Josh and Dakota able to make a call? Maybe they could get local emergency services here. Hopefully in enough time to get a door open before the worst happened.

  “I’m trying to get us out.” There was a bite to her tone.

  Mason frowned. “I know that. It wasn’t a criticism. We’re all on edge. Scared, if we’re willing to admit that to ourselves.”

  Talia looked up at him. “Sorry.”

  “Don’t be. We can figure this out together. Or Niall and Haley will find another exit.”

  “But I’m the one who gets this stuff done. They’re all counting on me.”

  “So let’s puzzle it out. Okay?” When she nodded, he continued, “You said there was no signal from outside the house, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “So what does that leave?”

  “The door was closed by something that didn’t require a signal from an external source.” She tapped the screen. “The diagnostic says a command was entered
to close the door.”

  “And the vents?”

  “Same.”

  He had to wonder about that. “So someone on the premises entered a signal?”

  Talia blinked. “That means he’s here.”

  Wasn’t that a horrible thought? Mason wanted to bring this guy in. How could they do that, even if he was here? They’d have to get out first. Or get to where he was.

  “Guys!” Niall’s shout rang through the house. “Get in here!”

  Talia disconnected her tablet. He swiped up her purse and handed it to her as they raced down the hall to the bedroom.

  “This could be a way out.” Haley held a sliding door open—a panel in the wall. She waved them to it.

  Mason let Talia go through first, then followed. There were steps down. The air smelled clearer, though, and he sucked in a few lungfuls of clean oxygen before breathing out a relieved breath.

  Niall called out from up ahead. “There’s a tunnel.”

  “Is it a way out?” Mason asked, his voice ringing in the small space.

  “I think so.”

  Mason’s foot splashed water on the ground. Haley clicked on the flashlight on her gun and shone it around the tunnel as they moved. He did the same, illuminating a walkway of breeze block on either side of him. Giant concrete blocks stuck together with cement. Barely wide enough for him to put both elbows out to the sides. He’d graze the skin for sure.

  Behind him, the door to the bedroom closet slid closed.

  “This better be the way out.”

  No one replied to his frustrated comment.

  “Here.” Niall stopped up ahead.

  Mason heard Haley and Talia come to a stop. He did the same, shining his flashlight around so he could stand close to Talia. He set a hand on her back to reassure her that they were here with her.

  Still, her breathing came fast.

  Too fast.

  He realized then that he’d reacted to her fear even before becoming aware she was feeling it. Now she was heading rapidly toward a panic attack.

  Niall climbed a ladder and pushed at a manhole cover above his head. Mason looked at his phone. Still no signal, even though they were no longer in the house.

  Niall grunted with each shove. “It’s moving.” Slowly, though. Mason didn’t like this. He looked around while he tried to figure out where the niggling originated. That sensation pricking the skin on the back of his neck. The one that made him want to tell Niall to hurry it up.