Rubber.
Electrical cleaner.
Metal.
And hear Trevor Hale saying:
You’re making something out of nothing.
Kellen’s expression changed.
Serafina lowered the umbrella slightly.
“What is it?”
He looked toward her.
“This didn’t fail.”
“What?”
He held up the wire.
“Someone cut it.”
The rain seemed louder.
Serafina stared at the component.
“Cut?”
“With a tool.”
“Could road debris—”
“No.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes.”
“Could a mechanic have done it accidentally?”
“Maybe.”
“But if they did, they knew immediately.”
Kellen turned the wire again.
“Who worked on the car?”
Serafina went still.
“A company garage.”
“When?”
“Yesterday.”
“What work?”
“Routine inspection.”
Kellen looked toward the road behind them.
Empty.
Then ahead.
Fog.
Pines.
No other vehicles.
“Who knew you were driving today?”
Serafina’s posture changed.
The wealthy stranded woman disappeared for a second.
Something sharper replaced her.
“A few people.”
“Family?”
“Work.”
“Anyone else?”
“My driver.”
“Where is he?”
“I told him I wanted to drive myself.”
Kellen stared.
Serafina looked toward the cut wire.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“No.”
“You made a face.”
“You want the polite answer?”
“I don’t think I hired you for politeness.”
“You didn’t hire me at all.”
“Fair.”
Kellen closed the hood halfway, leaving it propped.
“If somebody deliberately cut this, driving again without knowing why isn’t smart.”
“I need to get back.”
“To where?”
“Columbus.”
“So do we.”
Serafina looked toward his truck again.
Then at the rain.
“I can call someone.”
“That’s probably best.”
She reached for her phone.
Kellen looked again at the cut wire.
Something about the connector housing bothered him.
Small scratch.
Yellow marking.
His heartbeat changed.
He brought it closer.
There it was.
A narrow white calibration stripe.
Vale Automotive used those exact markings on prototype control modules.
He looked toward Serafina.
“What kind of car is this?”
She frowned.
“You’re looking at it.”
“No.”
“What package?”
“Prototype executive evaluation.”
Kellen’s stomach dropped.
He wiped the plastic.
A tiny component number became visible.
VA-SC9-117.
He knew it.
He had written the original incident report.
Three years ago.
Same subsystem.
Same design vulnerability.
Not exactly the wire.
The routing.
A control sensor cable sat too close to a service access channel. During maintenance, it could be pinched or cut. Worse, if intentionally severed at a specific location, the vehicle could mimic a sensor failure before abruptly losing power.
Kellen had reported it.
He had demanded a redesign.
Management had called his findings statistically insignificant.
Then someone changed the test documentation.