Page 17 of Echoes of Fear
“The last seven screens are still glitching, though,” Jax says. “Is it a different message in Morse code?”
“No,” I answer. Minimizing the nine screens flashing the SOS and leaving the last seven on the screen. Each one appears as if the camera feed is blurry. “At first, I thought someone was reaching out for help by hacking into our security network. And I’ll admit that it took me several long hours to finally figure out what was happening.”
“Is it Emily?” Taylor asks. “Is she asking for help?”
“It is Emily,” I nod. “But she isn’t asking for help.”
With the press of a few buttons, the blurry images that overlay my feed enlarge and enhance until everything is as clear as day.
“What the hell is that?” Parker asks.
“That is computer coding,” I answer. “And it’s a warning. She wasn’t asking for help with that SOS. She was telling me to stop.”
Ignoring the outbursts at the table, I decode the message for all to hear.
The millions of ones and zeros on the screen are slowly replaced with the face of a determined and exhausted-looking woman with black hair, green eyes, and a pale face.
“Emily,” Taylor whispers. “My beautiful baby sister.”
“Knox Mercer,” she says quietly. “As I’m sure you have figured out, my name is Emily Taylor. I know my brother and his club are behind you searching for me, but you have to stop.You must stop. Where you’re headed is very dangerous. There are coders here that watch my every move and ones that are only tasked with keeping anyone from finding me. They already know you’re looking. I did everything I could on my end to keep them from finding out who you are, but your name is big in the programming world. They found out yesterday and have already told the ones in charge.
They’re watching you like a hawk, Knox. They have eyes on your apartment and your clubhouse, as well as your online activity. Right now, you’re safe, but the second you try and reach out to me, they have orders to kill you and anyone else in their way.
Do not respond to this message. Not in Morse code, not in encrypted emails or coding language. Just forget I exist. Tell Anthony that I’m fine. I’m alive, and I’m not being hurt. Well, as long as I listen and do as I’m told. Which I have been. Sort of. You know what to do, Knox.”
With those final words, the screen goes blank.
I’ve watched this video several times, so I’m not surprised by anything she’s said. The men, however, are.
“Get the fuck off that computer,” Blaze orders.
“No way in hell are you continuing,” Steel adds.
“I agree,” Taylor says. “I’m grateful for what you’ve done, but there is absolutely no way you are going to continue. I will not have you harmed.”
The rest of the men all nod their agreement, and I can’t help but giggle.
“What’s so funny, little boy?” Taylor says, standing and taking a few steps forward.
“You Doms are always so dramatic,” I answer.
“You think wanting to keep you safe and happy is dramatic?” he asks, moving to stand directly in front of my desk.
“There’s more to the message,” I say, looking down at my hands. Maintaining eye contact is impossible.
“Take a look at the last screen.”
I enlarge the coded message on the TV and wait.
“Yk tgenmzp, Qpimdp Ftaybeaz ue wupzmbbuzs kagzs sudxe mzp dqzfuzs ftqy agf. Tq’e iadwuzs iuft ftq sdagb uz Zqi Kadw omxxqp ftq Oqxfuo Omdfqxe. U tmhq bqabxq imfotuzs yk nmow mzp U iaz’f nq tqdq ygot xazsqd. U’xx qjbxmuz qhqdkftuzs xmfqd. Bxqmeq, fqxx yk ndaftqd fa nmow arr mzp imuf. Kag pa ftq emyq, Wzaj. Ftqeq bqabxq mdq ufotuzs fa sqf fa kag. Paz’f suhq ftqy m dqmeaz fa.
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Ghost asks.
“It’s widely known as the Ceasar Cypher,” I answer. “It’s an encryption technique where you take each letter in your message and shift it forward or backward a specific number of spaces. In this case, it’s encoded with a forward shift of sixty-four. So, the first word isyk,and if we shift that forward sixty-four times, the word changes toMy.The second word istgenmzp.With the forward shift of sixty-four, it changes tohusband. So on and so forth.”
“That is really fuckin’ brilliant,” Taylor says, looking at the screen.
“Yeah, your sister is incredibly smart.”