"Miss Knox,"
Riley nearly jumped at the sound of her own name. She had been nervous all morning. Anyone would be nervous in her position. Seated across from her were senior officers. People who didn't call meetings unless something serious was about to happen.
Detective Superintendent Henderson sat in the centre. Beside him was Zachary, the Authorising Officer for serious operations. On his other side was Detective Sergeant Miller.
Three high-ranking officers. One small room. One reason.
Riley sat straight, hands folded tightly in her lap.
She had only been promoted a few months ago. Grade 7 police staff. At twenty-seven, that alone made her stand out. Too young, some said. Too fast, others whispered. She had worked in the Criminal Investigation Department for five years as a Technical Surveillance Officer. Five long, exhausting years of late nights, encrypted systems, and tracing criminals who never wanted to be found.
It hadn't been easy. It had been nearly impossible.
When the sergeant told her she was needed in this meeting, fear had crept in immediately. What if they were taking it back? She wondered. What if they decided she was promoted too quickly?
She had fought hard for this position. She wouldn't lose it quietly.
"Miss Knox," Detective Superintendent Henderson said again, louder this time.
"Yes, sir," Riley replied quickly. Too quickly.
"We've called you here to discuss an important matter," he said. "You remember the case involving unidentified suspects. The one we never closed."
He paused, watching her closely.
Riley frowned slightly as her memory caught up.
"The air-gap case?" she asked.
Henderson nodded.
Her stomach tightened.
She remembered it clearly. Too clearly.
The air-gap case was the hardest investigation they had ever worked on. A criminal organisation tied to major crimes across the country. Bombings. Assassinations. Financial fraud. Human trafficking.
Every trail led to them.
And yet, somehow, they didn't exist.
Whenever hired criminals were arrested, they told the same story. They were paid to do the job. They followed orders. They never met the people above them.
When asked who their leaders were, they couldn't answer.
When their supposed bosses were found, they were already dead.
Every time, the same pattern.
A single gunshot. A 3D-printed .41 pistol. And spray-painted at the scene, in red, two letters:
EG.
No records. No communications. No financial trail.
After nearly a year of chasing shadows, the case had gone cold. The department had been forced to step back and focus on crimes they could actually solve.
But now, sitting in that room, Riley realised one thing.
They hadn't stopped looking.
"We never actually gave up on that case. In fact, we contacted some masters in the area of hacking to look into it,"
"We found a lead,"
Mrs Miller dropped a file on the table, just in front of Riley. Riley took a look at the file. It had the letters 'EG' written on it with red ink. "Open it," The detective sergeant spoke quietly.
Riley took one look at the trio that sat opposite her. She still kept wondering what the heck was going on. It looked like they were playing a mind game with her, accessing her every movement, watching, waiting …for what?
The first thing that caught her eye when she opened the file was 'BlueCrest Tech'. Maybe it was because it was written boldly in black ink while everything else was in blue.
Riley looked up.
"That company is a tech firm," Henderson explained. "They produce and sell consumer products—smart watches, laptops, and similar devices. You probably know them. We did some digging and found that three of the arrested criminals had older versions of some BlueCrest devices traced back to them. Each criminal belonged to a different organisation and claimed they were hired by different people—but all said the devices were provided by whoever hired them."
"We don't believe BlueCrest Tech is the hidden organisation we're looking for," Authorising Officer Zachary interrupted carefully. "But we can't rule them out either."
He leaned forward slightly.
"We've already questioned several staff members at the company. Even the CEO cooperated. According to them, all older device models were disposed of years ago. Officially, they no longer exist."
Riley's eyes narrowed.
"That's the problem," Zachary continued. "Something doesn't add up. There's missing information, and we need to find it."
Henderson picked up from there.
"We need someone on the inside. Not just someone who can talk to staff and observe behaviour, but someone who can spot digital traces. Someone who notices what doesn't belong."
Zachary nodded.
"I managed to uncover that some computers inside BlueCrest communicate with each other without using the internet."
Riley stiffened.
"An internal network," he said. "Isolated. No external access."
Just like the air-gap case.
"We need someone for this job," Zachary said calmly. "After weighing the pros and cons, we chose you."
"You've proven yourself worthy of this case. I personally recommended you Miss Knox," Mrs Miller added. They all waited for Riley's response. "I–I don't know what to say," Riley mumbled, but it was loud enough to be heard by the trio.
"Say you feel honoured. Not everyone gets this kind of job offer after receiving a promotion," Henderson joked.
He wasn't lying.
"I feel honoured…"
"Go with the file and absorb the information written in it. Report to the sergeant's office first thing tomorrow" He paused before speaking, "I have a feeling that we picked the right person for the job,"
They all exited after giving Riley a handshake. Riley felt danger and death shaking her hand too. She wondered if she had made the right decision. She really did.