“What are you doing here”—I raise an eyebrow at the fake name tag on her shirt—“Bob?”
“I wanted to catch you before you left for work,” Athena says, moving to my window like she’s casing the street. “We need to talk about your trip to Italy.”
“I don’t think I’m going.”
Her head whips toward me. “Why not?”
“I was thinking I’d get more done here. With Mr. Edmond and Sebastian out of the office, I could go through files. I overheard Sebastian and his father arguing over finances. Sounded like it might have something to do with Sebastian’s crypto company. It felt off. I can dig around, see what’s going on—”
“You’re going with them,” Athena cuts in. Her voice is calm but firm. “There’s been a development.”
She shifts the blinds again. I cross the room, more uneasy than before. Outside, a neighbor is tossing trash into the dumpster. Totally normal. Which only makes this weirder.
“What kind of development?” I ask.
“We lost the museum lead,” Athena says, crossing her arms. “Whoever stopped you from getting into the museum library the other night stopped us from getting the information we needed about the deal Ramirez is making with Edmond.”
Guilt scrapes the back of my throat. If I’d gone upstairs sooner, figured out a better way to plant the listening device. If I hadn’t been distracted by...
“We’re still working to identify them,” Athena continues. “But based on other intel, we’re working under the assumption that someone else wanted access to that office for the same reasons we did—for information about the deal. That’s your assignment. We’re not just interested in Ramirez. We already know he’s a criminal. We want the details behind the deal. What it is. What Edmond and Ramirez’s role is. And who else might be involved.”
It didn’t surprise me that she had more intel than I did. As a covert asset, I wasn’t looped in on the full scope of a mission. My original assignment was simple: Find out who Edmond was meeting with. But now it sounds like the focus is shifting—from tracking Ramirez to dissecting the actual deal. Which means this isn’t just another financial scheme. It’s bigger. The stakes higher.
Who else might be involved?Ben’s stupid smug face pops into my mind. He’s involved. Buthowinvolved? “I don’t think it’s a good idea,” I say slowly. “Because of—”
“The financial advisor, Craig Miller,” she finishes for me.
Even just hearing the name makes my stomach knot.
“Or should I say Ben Bradley,” she adds, and that name punches harder.
I swallow.
“He said he uses aliases to protect his clients,” I offer apologetically.
Athena shrugs, too casual. “That’s not unusual with his clientele. Politicians. CEOs. Oil magnates. He’s built a career helping the wealthy, powerful, and criminally connected hide their money.”
Hearing her describe what Ben does sounds a lot different than theway he described it to me yesterday in the restroom. He’s a financial advisor, which in and of itself is a solid career choice, but then you add in his clients... and that’s where it gets confusing.
The Ben I remember was always jumping headfirst into whatever scheme he and Rex came up with, without a thought to the consequences that might follow. More than once, their tricks on me earned both of them extra chores from Uncle Buddy.
“There are still some things we’re working out.” Athena’s gaze goes distant. “But for now, we think Craig Miller might be useful.”
My jaw tightens. “Useful how?”
“Given your history, I think he could be an... asset.”
The word lodges like glass. An asset? I glance down at the ring on my thumb—my dad’s ring. When we were twelve, the chain I wore it on snapped while I was playing near the edge of a ravine behind Aunt Renee’s house. I watched it tumble down, hitting rock and brush before disappearing into the undergrowth.
I didn’t move. Couldn’t breathe. That ring was all I had left of my father.
Before I could even react, Ben was already scrambling down the slope. No rope. No plan. Just a twelve-year-old boy with dirt-crusted sneakers and zero survival instincts. He came back bleeding from a cut above his brow, covered in scratches, and grinning like he’d just won a medal.
Ben earned two stitches, a lecture from Uncle Buddy, and a weeklong grounding. “Worth it,” he told me.
Back then, I thought he did it to show off. That he was seeking attention by doing something risky, but it was just his personality. He’s always been the kind of person who jumps straight into the ravine and doesn’t stop to wonder if he can climb back out.
Is that what’s happened here? How did he get tangled up with Lorenzo Ramirez? Does he see the edge to pull himself out?
