Chapter 22

The Cyber10 office was in an uproar when they arrived. Jake met them at the elevator on the development floor, his usually calm demeanor replaced by barely controlled panic.

“It’s worse than I thought,” he said, falling into step beside them. “The virus bypassed all our security protocols. It’s like it knew exactly where the vulnerabilities were.”

“Because it did,” Sutton said grimly, moving as quickly as her pregnant body would allow. “I have a feeling the first attack was reconnaissance. This is the real assault.”

Luca’s hand remained at the small of her back, steadying and protective as they hurried to her station. “What data has been compromised?”

“Everything,” Jake replied. “Kingston’s client databases, project files, even our backup systems. It’s spreading faster than we can track it.”

The development room was crowded with bleary-eyed staff called in from their homes. Elliott sat hunched over his keyboard, face pale with exhaustion. Nicole stood nearby,