The core task force Liam, Abby, and Rook (via secure satellite line) was immediately effective. Abby's financial lead on Sentinel Data Services had given Rook's external surveillance teams a clear, actionable target, forcing Elias to scramble and reveal his current operational security.
However, the intensity of the work only amplified Abby's emotional isolation. The physical security might be impenetrable, but the psychological cage was crushing her. She needed to know her loved ones her mother and Sarah were safe, and she needed to confirm her lifeline was intact.
She waited until Liam was in the middle of a critical, high volume trading call in the basement bunker a meeting she knew would demand his total, unblinking focus for at least two hours.
Abby went into the sunroom, her workspace, and opened her secure communications laptop. She was specifically forbidden from making any unsanctioned calls, but her new status as a task force partner gave her a loophole: she had unfettered, encrypted communication with the Sterling Family Trust's legal office to track down the history of the Sentinel payment.
She opened the secure chat interface, her fingers hovering over the text input. She knew she couldn't simply call Sarah; every external line was monitored, even if encrypted. But she could create a false communications path using her new official capacity.
She initiated a chat with Marcus Thorne, the senior partner overseeing the Family Trust and the sole executor of the child's $500M fund.
Abby Sterling (Internal Audit): Marcus, I need an urgent confirmation of a legal liaison. We need to verify the personal contact information for a key witness related to the 2024 'Brooks-Sterling Acquisition' pre-screening. The contact is Sarah Jansen, listed as Abigail Brooks' emergency contact.
Marcus Thorne: Mrs. Sterling, this is highly irregular. Why are you requesting this directly?
Abby Sterling (Internal Audit): Data security protocol, Marcus. I need to verify her secure line directly, off the Sterling network, before we submit the legal subpoena regarding the family trust investigation. I cannot risk using a traceable Sterling line. Provide me with her personal cell number immediately. Priority 1.
Marcus Thorne, a lawyer conditioned by decades of Liam's absolute authority and terrified of jeopardizing the $500M trust, did not question the urgency or the high-stakes terminology. He simply saw an order coming from the Sterling authority structure and complied.
A moment later, the cell number was provided. Abby quickly copied it, closed the chat with Marcus, and cleared her desktop.
Now for the risk.
She powered up the personal, non-encrypted phone Rook had confiscated and stored in a fire-safe in the corner of the room a detail she had noted the moment they arrived. She unlocked the safe (she had observed Rook's pattern of re-entering the simple code while on the secure line) and retrieved her old phone.
She had exactly five minutes before Liam was likely to check her status on the internal monitoring system. She quickly texted Sarah's number.
Abby: Sarah. Is the syllabus ready?
She shoved the phone back into the safe, locked it, and returned to her secure laptop, her heart pounding a frantic rhythm against her ribs. She was playing a double game of espionage: hunting Elias while simultaneously deceiving Liam's protective surveillance.