Page 25 of My Ghost

And of course, I throw myself in the hunt after the human trafficking ring I came here to expose.Manticore has been unusually quiet lately and the silence is eating at me.I had foolishly hoped that I would find clues here in Boston, something to follow.But it’s not like they’d hang a sign with their name and business hours on a building.Why can’t things be that simple?

This evening, after a quiet shift at the clinic and a dinner of Indian takeout, I sink onto my sofa, pull out my laptop and log into the darknet message boards I keep tabs on.Old habits and all that.

Most of the chatter is the usual noise—black market offers, phishing scams and the expected shadowy chitchat.But one thread catches my eye.

For Geryon.

That was it, no context…only a subject line that sends a prickle down the base of my neck.I click it with a frown.Inside is a brief, encoded post, nothing overt, just enough to imply a planned drop or meeting.The language is vague, but clear to anyone who knows what to look for.

Got info.Need to meet ASAP.Secure location only.No middlemen.

My fingers still on the trackpad.On a hunch, I pull up another tab and typeGeryoninto a search bar.And my stomach turns.

“Geryon—a monster from mythology with three heads, part human, part lion, and part scorpion.Similar to the manticore.”

I lean back, heart thudding.This can’t be a coincidence.This feels like one of them.I can’t ignore it.I need to find out from where it was sent.So I dig.

The post is slippery, embedded with misleading trails and decoys.But what my life had taught me was to never give up, and after two hours of intense tracing, I follow the thread of code to…a wall.No, not a wall, a fortress.One I know all too well.

Matteo.

I freeze, blood turning to ice.

This is his digital signature, his system.He has hidden it well, buried beneath layers of encryption and firewalls, but I recognize his style.

I sit back, stunned.

What the hell is he doing with Manticore messages on his server?

Was this what he meant at the gala?No complications… Keep your distance…Because he is part of them?Why would he be connected to something like this?

It doesn’t make sense.Unless…unless he’s involved.

A sharp pulse of dread races through me, crawling up my spine, nearly choking me.

Matteo.That cold, unreadable bastard.Whatever he is doing, this throws everything off balance.

Is he covering for them?Trading information?Is he part of Manticore?

Then the next thought slams into me like a punch.Damiano.His entire group.I always knew they weren’t saints—Mafia doesn’t exactly scream morality—but I believed they had lines they didn’t cross.

I believed Lily was safe with them.

After everything she went through, after being abducted and rescued by Damiano himself, I thought this group of men had a code.That they were working to shut those rings down, not protect them, orworkfor them.But what if I was wrong?

My pulse surges as my heart rate speeds up.I lean in, teeth gritted, pushing deeper into the Di Rossi network.My fingers fly over the keyboard.I have to find out.I have to be sure—

The screen glitches, like a flicker of static.

Then…words bleed into my terminal, they blink, stark and final, in the center of my screen.

I’m coming for you, Ghost.

I freeze.

The blood drains from my face as my breath catches in my throat.I slam the laptop shut with a loud thud.

No…No, no, no!