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Chapter 61 - Heat Signature

last update Last Updated: 2025-08-05 16:33:50

Sophia

Jamie makes me coffee before I can ask for it. It's somehow the perfect temperature and already sweetened exactly the way I like it.

We're sitting in his living room, bathed in the kind of warm morning light that makes you feel like everything's going to be okay. It's a lie, obviously, but one I’m willing to believe for a few hours.

My phone buzzes on the coffee table. It's Claire.

Nothing weird in the files. No malware, no worms. You’re clean. Digitally, anyway.

Damn. I was hoping to find a neon sign pointing at my mystery intruder.

Sorry, babe. You’ve either got a ghost or a Grade A hacker who knows their way around a system.

Jamie reads my expression as I set the phone down. "So? Bad news, worse news, or 'we regret to inform you that your laptop is now a haunted toaster'?"

I laugh, but it’s a low one. "No leads. Whatever happened, there’s no digital trace."

Jamie makes a sympathetic noise and pats my knee vaguely. We fall into easy silence, the kind that only comes with peop
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