"Obviously," Marcus said.
"Ishouldgo," Seth said.
"No." Zain's response was immediate. Reflexive.
"Hear me out. "
"It's a room full of people who kept you in a cage."
"It's a room full of people who probably think I'm dead. That's an advantage."
Marcus held up a hand. Silence.
"Explain," Marcus said to Seth.
"Ghost needs confirmation. Digital evidence, financial records, connection between Mercer and the trafficking sites. If someone can get into that VIP room, a phone clone, a recording device, something Ghost can use, that's the link you need." Seth's voice was steady. Professional. The voice of a man who'd learned operational thinking from watching these men for three weeks. "I can blend in. I clean up well enough to pass for catering staff or a junior donor. Nobody's going to recognize the skinny meth head from the warehouse in a suit."
Ghost looked up from his screen. "He's not wrong."
"Ghost," Zain warned.
"He's not. I've been trying to get physical access to Mercer's network for months. A device planted in the VIP room would give me everything, communications, financial data, the whole chain. But I can't do it remotely. Someone needs to be in that room."
"Then send Jack," Zain said. "Send Nate."
"Jack has the subtlety of a car alarm," Nate said mildly. "And I'm known. I've been on surveillance for weeks. Mercer's security team might have my face."
"Elijah?"
Elijah, from his corner, "I don't do crowds."
The room turned back to Seth.
Zain felt something tighten in his chest, the same iron control he used as a weapon, turned against him. The fear wasn't rational. Seth was capable. Seth was smart. Seth was, against all odds, becoming someone who could handle himself in exactly this kind of situation.
But the fear wasn't about capability. It was about loss. About sending the person who had become the most important variable in his life into a room full of people who had already destroyed him once.
Seth met his eyes across the table. Green and steady and asking, not for permission, but for trust.
"I'll go with him," Zain said.
Marcus raised an eyebrow.
"Two-man team. Seth plants the device. I run security. We're in and out in ninety minutes."
"In a tuxedo?" Jack said. "This I gotta see."
"I clean up fine."
"You clean up like someone stuffed a grenade into a penguin suit."
"Jack."
"I'm supporting you, I'm just also enjoying this."
Marcus looked between Zain and Seth. That deep, measuring look.
"Done," Marcus said. "Ghost, get them what they need."
