Page 80 of Stay Scared

Ash comes around the console and stops beside Owen.

“When we renovated, we reused portions of the legacy vendor database because the ride systems still depended on it.”

Rook’s voice carries amusement.

“And VANTA Systems kept appearing after midnight without anyone asking why.”

Owen’s shoulders tighten.

“I saw it.”

Ash turns sharply. Owen looks at the screen rather than him.

“Twice. Contractor logs with no current invoice and no assigned employee. I classified them as inherited data.”

Rook angles the beak toward him.

“You were busy watching her through glass while I walked behind your cameras.”

Owen’s fingers hover above the keyboard. The insult lands. The information beneath it lands harder. Rook did not return tonight. He never needed to. Ash opens the old property plans beside the credential history.

The service spine cuts behind Owen’s camera coverage, with forgotten contractor entrances branching through walls sealed during later renovations.

“How long?” Ash asks.

Rook understands the question.

“Long enough that tonight was never the beginning.”

Owen opens a battery diagram. Portable power units appear across the property beside manual lock bridges. He studies the placements.

“These were installed over multiple visits.”

“I had time.”

“The bridge cables too?”

“Every one.”

I look at the black lines spreading across the property map. The cables we found tonight. The batteries. The locks refusing to fail open. The missing access covers. None of them were improvised after I arrived. Rook had been preparing the building before Salem Sterling ever crossed the gate.

“What about the chain on the emergency exit?” I ask.

Rook turns toward me.

“That was recent.”

Cade moves closer to my side without touching me, enough that the dried blood on his arm enters the edge of my vision. Ash grips the console.

“You were waiting for Final Girl Protocol.”

“I was waiting for something worth returning for.”

Rook faces me across the monitors. Now we finally reach the part of this that belongs to me. I step closer.

“Why me?”

“You reviewed attractions that crossed lines.”