Part of Olive couldn’t believe Mitzi was talking to their boss this way. The other part knew Rex deserved it.
The two of them obviously had a much more personal relationship than Olive did with Rex. Mitzi had been with Aegis for years.
A low murmur rippled around the group. Jason stood beside Olive, jaw tight, eyes on Michael.
Trick stepped forward from the back of the room, his usual grin gone. He sneezed into his elbow before he spoke. “So why exactly are you in hiding, Michael? What did you do that people want to kill you?”
Olive waited, holding her breath.
His response would provide some of the answers they’d been looking for.
Michael’s eyes flicked toward him, then down. “I wasn’t always in hiding. A few years ago, I was working in a university lab, trying to get funding for a cold-adaptive protein project. Something that could help researchers or rescue teams survive extreme temperatures.”
“And?” Mitzi prompted when he paused.
Michael swallowed hard before saying, “No one would touch it. It was too experimental. Too risky. Too expensive.”
Olive soaked in everything he said, mentally analyzing it.
He let out a shaky breath. “Then Winterlight approached me. They called themselves a humanitarian investment group and told me they wanted to fund innovation that would help savelives. They offered me a real lab, real equipment, real money. It felt like someone was finally taking my work seriously.”
A ripple of unease shuddered through Olive. Winterlight posing as saviors was bad enough. Winterlight posing as philanthropists? Worse.
Michael’s jaw tightened. “I thought I was working for the good guys. I thought I was building something that could protect people. But then I started noticing things—restricted files, encrypted reports, meetings I wasn’t allowed in. When I finally cracked an access folder I wasn’t supposed to see . . .”
Olive waited with bated breath.
His voice dropped. “That’s when I realized Winterlight didn’t want my research for rescue missions. They wanted soldiers who could disappear into subzero environments. Assassins who could walk through a blizzard without leaving a heat trail.”
Olive leaned forward slightly, a knot tightening in her stomach. “Does this have something to do with Project Frostbite?”
Rex shot her a sharp look. “You know about that?”
She held his gaze, saying nothing. Her pulse ticked faster.
“Yes,” Michael finally said. “It has everything to do with Project Frostbite.”
Rex exhaled through his nose. “Fine. She deserves the truth.” He turned toward Olive. “As you know, the Winterlight Consortium presents itself as a humanitarian investment group—clean energy, medical tech, arctic research. But underneath, they’re a front for organized crime. Data trafficking. Weapons deals. Assassinations dressed up as accidents.”
Olive’s chest tightened. The longer she worked these cases, the more she realized how many monsters hid behind philanthropic mission statements.
Rex jerked his chin toward Michael. “And they used him to build something no one else could.”
Michael rubbed his palms against his jeans. “Project Frostbite was supposed to be a survival tool. A way for operatives to function in extreme cold—arctic missions, covert extractions, high-altitude operations. I designed the adaptive protein sequence—the part that keeps the body from shutting down. Without it, the entire enhancement collapses.”
A chill traveled down Olive’s spine. This wasn’t science fiction. This was weaponized biology.
Michael let out a bitter laugh. “Winterlight told me it was for humanitarian expeditions. I believed them—until I saw the other files.”
Rex nodded grimly. “Michael ran. That’s why he’s in hiding. And why Winterlight wants him back. They can’t finish Frostbite without him.”
Olive felt a sharp flicker of protectiveness. This man wasn’t just a target. He was the last firewall between Winterlight and a nightmare.
Michael’s voice cracked. “I didn’t wait for Winterlight to decide my fate. I took everything—research notes, encrypted backups—and went to the feds.”
“And?” Trick prompted.
Michael dragged a shaky hand through his hair. “They believed me. Or enough of what I told them to know Winterlight was a threat. They said if I testified, they’d protect me. But they weren’t sure who they could trust. They suspected someone inside might be compromised.”
