And suddenly I understood exactly why Rook had come here personally.
This wasn’t just corruption anymore.
This wasn’t politics.
Mercer was erasing witnesses.
Families.
Children.
Anyone who could expose him.
The woman handed Rook a bloodstained flash drive.
“We pulled this off one of Mercer’s men before he died.”
Rook looked down at it once.
Then his steel-gray eyes lifted slowly toward me.
“This,” he said quietly, “is what Mercer’s willing to kill thousands to protect.”
47
FELICITY
The little girl wouldn’t let go of me.
Not for one second.
She sat curled against my side on the old farmhouse couch while the storm raged outside, her tiny fingers twisted tightly in my sweater like if she loosened her grip, something terrible would happen again.
Honestly?
Maybe she was right.
I brushed damp curls away from her face carefully. “What’s your name, sweetheart?”
Her voice barely existed.
“Mia.”
“You’re safe now, Mia.”
The words felt fragile leaving my mouth.
Because I wasn’t sure any of us were truly safe anymore.
Across the room, Hersh stood near the kitchen table with Wolf, Trigger, Ava, and Rook while Shadow Division spread photographs and maps across the surface.
The bloodstained flash drive sat in the middle.
Like a bomb nobody wanted to touch.
Rook finally picked it up.
“We need to see what’s on this.”
