Amy’s POV
The command center smelled like burnt coffee and adrenaline. Monitors blinked in a thousand guises of panic: camera feeds, maps, incoming messages. I stood at the center of it all, a raw edge under the fluorescent glare, watching my team become a hive of motion. Every second we'd live without answers felt like another life slipping away.
“Status.” My voice was low, bellowing only what needed to be heard.
Detective Marlow snapped to attention. “Tunnel’s sealed for forensics. We sent a full crew down. Samples already picked up—soil, fibers, two sets of prints. One set matches equipment from our seizure last month. The other is incomplete, partial, but it’s… unusual.”
“Unusual how?” I pressed.
He glanced at the screen where the prints were overlaid with a database. “Pattern sug
