The Meridian Financial District gleamed under emergency lights, its usual business-hour bustle replaced by chaos. Maya showed her Bureau credentials at the perimeter, scanning the crowd for James and Echo.
She spotted them near an ambulance—James's tall figure, unmistakable even in the commotion, Echo sitting alertly at his side. The German Shepherd noticed her first, ears perking up before James turned in her direction, somehow sensing her approach despite the surrounding noise.
"You got here fast," Maya signed, then realized her error and spoke aloud instead, the interpreter having stayed behind at headquarters. "What happened?"
James tilted his head slightly—his way of indicating he was focusing on specific sounds. "Twenty-seven people collapsed simultaneously in the Nexus Tower lobb
