Daria: ok
Hours later.
Daria: 2 bodyguards, outside.Girl is ready for collection.
One hour later.
Unknown Number: Tick tick, Don.
A sound escapes me, a guttural, feral roar as I grab a chair and slam it into the wall.The crash echoes like thunder and wood splinters fly across the room.
“Fuck.That bitch set it up,” Luc mutters, stunned.
My jaw tightens until I taste blood.I clench my fists so tightly my nails cut into my palms.If Daria weren’t already lying dead in her own mess, I’d drag her through hell myself.
“But why is she dead?”Teo asks, brows furrowed.
“She was double-crossed,” I grind out.“She sold out one girl, but they probably took two.Her partner didn’t need her anymore.She was a loose end.”
Teo shifts to another monitor.“Chiara’s phone’s clean.She either didn’t know anything or she’s damn good at hiding it.”
“What do we have?”I growl, hating the helplessness creeping in.
Teo winces.“They were pros.Left nothing behind… Wait, hold up.”His voice sharpens.“What the hell… It’s him.”
“Who?”Luc and I say in unison, stepping in.
“The ghost, the hacker,” Teo mutters, fingers flying over the keyboard.“He’s been poking around for weeks, trying to get into my systems.He set off a few flags before, but couldn’t break through.”
“Is he in now?”
He sends me an offended look over his shoulder and huffs.“As if he could.He’s trying.Looks like he’s targeting the phones from today.Lily’s, Daria’s, Chiara’s.”
A bolt of instinct hits me.“Let him in.”
Teo twists in his chair.“You sure?If he wipes anything—”
“You have backups?”
“Of course, but—”
“Let him in.”
He exhales sharply, then gets to work.We crowd around his desk, staring at the monitor as if we could catch a glimpse of the phantom fingers dancing through our data.For a long second, nothing.
Then Teo murmurs, “He’s in.He’s scanning phone logs…photos…no damage done, simply looking.Like he’s after something specific.”A beat.“Now he’s gone.”
My shoulders slump.
Goddammit.
“Who the fuck was that?”Luc demands.
“I never managed to trace his signal back to him.It’s not the Feds, that’s for sure,” Teo says flatly.“They move like bulls in a china store.This guy here is subtle.Not ultra-skilled, but cautious and smart.A ghost.”
My jaw tics.The air feels charged, like something is coming, just out of reach.
Then all of our phones chime simultaneously.
