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his own calls and texts went unreturned, confirming Eden’s story.
    Matt made a right turn into the sunken driveway of his building, entering into the cool darkness of subterranean parking. He glanced at the Porsche’s dashboard clock and mentally calculated his time upstairs to the office to make the newly set conference call. Before climbing out, the gift box caught his eye and he snatched it off the seat.
    An elevator whisked him to the top floor of the high-rise and he exited to find Eden waiting for him.
    “You’ve got three minutes until the call,” she informed him. Without waiting for a response, she slapped a file folder into his hand. “This was everything that was in Colin’s office.”
    Matt nodded his thanks and moved towards the glass-walled conference room overlooking the busy streets below. “Keep trying him.”
    There was a loud ping that surprised both of them. It chimed again.
    Matt looked around in confusion but Eden pointed at his gift box. “It’s coming from in there.” Matt pulled the top off, revealing the phone. A blue text box informed him that there was a text message waiting. “Cool,” Eden said. “I haven’t seen one like that before.”
    Matt withdrew the phone from the box, pressing the screen to open up the full text message. The words instantly popped up:
    Colin is dead.
    The breath froze in Matt’s lungs.
    Eden had turned away, not seeing the text. She was sprinting for the ringing telephone at the front desk. Answering it, she called out to Matt. “It’s TekStar.”
    He ignored her, flinching slightly as another text message popped up:
    Photo message arriving in 3…2…1
    Matt’s legs nearly buckled from the image on the screen.
    On it, Colin Nemec stared with vacant eyes, a bullet hole in the center of his forehead.
    “Matt?” Eden was next to him now.
    “Cancel the call,” he whispered, hiding the screen from her.
    “What? But they’re waiting. What should I-”
    “Cancel it,” he barked, heading for the nearest door he could put himself behind. It was the one that belonged to a nearby empty office that he shut. He waited for another text message for a full minute but nothing arrived. Another sixty seconds came and went.
    Then the phone rang.
    It merely said, Incoming Call, on the screen. Matt pressed it to answer.
    “Who is this?” he demanded.
    “Mr. Weatherly, I am only going to tell you this once.” The voice was male, cold and dispassionate.
    “Wait just a damn minute. What did you do to Colin-”
    “Go to your house. Right now. Be there in the next fifteen minutes.”
    Matt stole a look at a wall clock in the office which read 3:44pm, his heart pounding before he even heard the man’s next words.
    “Or your son dies.”

Six
    P lease, please, please…
    3:46pm. Thirteen minutes before the killer said he would harm Luke.
    The Porsche’s tires squealed out of the parking garage in a cloud of brake dust. It turned on to Sunset Boulevard, narrowly passing a brown pickup truck dawdling in the right lane. Matt downshifted, flooring the accelerator.
    3:48pm
    A yellow light at the Crescent Heights intersection made Matt’s heart jump. He urged the car forward, focused on the crosswalk as the traffic light popped to red and hoping like hell that none of the pedestrians on the corner were feeling especially entitled today. Horns blared in his ears as the Porsche rushed through the intersection with nobody crossing its path. He released the breath he did not realize he was holding tightly in his chest.
    3:51pm
    The street was now wide open with just a few cars dotting it before Matt’s turnoff. His own car was a black blur to the people on the sidewalks, an engine that was roaring past being pushed to its limits.
    Matt had been calling his home number the entire ride, repeatedly getting the voicemail.
    Damnit, Ana! Pick up!
he thought
.
    3:53pm
    Tires screeched on the asphalt as the Panamera cornered with precision. Matt braked briefly to avoid losing