The Man at the Door

The knock came again, firmer this time. The man outside didn’t sound impatient, but he wasn’t leaving either. Jessica’s pulse pounded in her ears. Lindström, he had used her alias. Whoever he was, he knew who they were, or at least enough to be dangerous.

Olivia typed furiously on her laptop, encrypting the drive’s contents further before ejecting it. She stuffed it into her bag and nodded to Kevin, who slowly rose to his feet, knife still hidden in his grip.

Leanna took a slow breath, glancing at Jessica. "We need to do this carefully. If they know we’re here, there’s no use pretending otherwise."

Jessica nodded and stepped forward. She pressed her back to the door, speaking through the wood. "Who are you?"

A pause. Then, "Someone who can help. But we need to talk."

Kevin scoffed. "That’s reassuring."

Leanna motioned for quiet. "Help with what?"

The man exhaled. "Project Prometheus. If you’re holding something from that grave, you need to leave this country. Now."

Silence stretched between them. Jessica’s grip tightened on the doorknob. "How do we know you’re not working for them?"

A dry chuckle. "If I were, you wouldn’t be having this conversation. I’d already be inside."

Jessica shot a look at Olivia, who was typing something on her phone, likely pulling up data on the man. She shook her head—nothing useful.

Leanna took the lead. "If you have something useful, slip it under the door."

The man hesitated, then there was a faint rustling. A small envelope slid under the door, a single word scrawled across it in sharp ink:

Vanguard.

Jessica bent down and picked it up. Inside was a folded sheet of paper with a short message:

They’re coming. You have twelve hours.

Her blood ran cold. She glanced at Leanna, then Olivia. "What do we do?"

Olivia exhaled. "We run. But first, we find out everything we can about him."

Jessica nodded and turned back toward the door. But when she checked the peephole, the man was gone.

******************************

The gang moved quickly. Bags were packed, documents double-checked. Kevin and Hannah secured transportation while Olivia worked on altering their digital footprints, wiping traces of their presence in Buenos Aires.

Leanna and Jessica studied the note again. "Vanguard," Jessica murmured. "That name keeps coming up."

"It’s more than a name," Leanna said. "It’s a directive. If someone inside Prometheus is warning us, they want us to follow that thread."

"Or it’s a trap."

Leanna exhaled. "Only one way to find out."

They left the hotel in pairs, blending into the city’s morning rush. Twelve hours wasn’t a lot of time. But it would have to be enough.