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Chapter 25

"What the FUCK?!!" Maxwell bellowed.

A collection of Security Officers and Prison Guards were gathered around a hole where the Trench Transfer Office once stood. Amid the pile of rubble lay a dead guard with a bullet hole in his forehead. There were no other bodies.

"How does something like this happen?!" Maxwell's face was a deep crimson. Spittle flew from his mouth. "Who's responsible for surveillance on this side of the building?"

A short, stocky man in a black suit approached the group. He wore a frown. The tag on his breast pocket read 'Warden Kendall'. In his hand was a Tablet. He handed it to Maxwell. "You need to see this."

Maxwell tapped the screen and a surveillance video began. There were four angles, two from above the transfer desk, two from eye level. He watched Richard and a guard approach and the man in blue shoot them. A moment later there was a white flash.

"We think it was a missile," said Kendall.

"What a fucking mess." Maxwell handed the Tablet back. "Not many people outside of Government can get their hands on those. Why risk exposure over someone like Sobel?"

"No idea."

"And what about the guard behind the desk? What's his ID? And who..."

"Sir!" Benson jogged up. Maxwell frowned at the interruption. Benson handed him a phone. "You'll want to take this. It's Lapearle."

Maxwell looked down at the screen. Lapearle's face looked back.

"Afternoon, sir," he said.

"Afternoon."

"I understand you're dealing with an intense situation."

"I am, so what the hell's going on?"

The gruff response made Lapearle pause. He took a breath and continued. "I think we've replicated Sobel's weapon."

"Let's hear it."

Lapearle held up a thin black rectangle. It was a few inches long with a Hotwire plug at one end. "You might remember these. Popular with criminals a decade ago, before Hotwire Ports had the encryption they do now."

"Yeah - a Leech. You plugged it in to someone and it pulled out their private info."

"And when they failed they blew the Hotwire Port. This would kill the victim. They're hard to come across now because they no longer work. But there's info on people modifying them to use as weapons. Not very effective when you consider how close you have to be - but worthwhile if you can do it. They don't leave a mark unless you really go looking."

A look of understanding lit Maxwell's face. He grinned.

Lapearle swung the Leech back and forth like a pendulum. "Sobel might have used something similar to kill anyone who recognized him."

"And the mark it leaves is similar to what we found on our victims?"

"All check out right back to Jackie Blair."

Maxwell flicked off the phone and tossed it to Benson – who caught it with some difficulty. Then he marched toward the rubble. His eyes never left the spot where the thick glass door once stood. Just short of it he stopped and stared at the mess by his feet.

He remained that way for some time. His tall body never moved as other Officers scrambled around him, snapping pictures of the wreckage.

"We may have found something, Chief!" Warden Kendall called from a few yards back - interrupting Maxwell's thoughts. He still had the Tablet in his hand and was waving it in the air.

"That so?"

Kendall jogged over and thrust the device in front of him.

"Holy shit."