The City Was Already on a Timer

`Don’t go under the Port Authority. Your wife used to work there. You should know why.` Elias’s breathing stalled. Grace looked up. “What is it?” “Somebody knows you used to work harbor dispatch,” he said, still staring at the screen. “And he wants me to go somewhere.” “Then don’t go.” He looked back toward the harbor, where firelight was turning the water into an open wound. “If he wants me away from it,” Elias said, “I’m going there.” The phone buzzed again. This time it was a live location feed. The camera was watching a black SUV crawl through the city. In the back seat sat a man in a tailored suit, holding the same black tablet the contractor had carried. He looked directly into the lens as if he knew he was being watched.