I saw Flick pale instantly beside me.
My body reacted before thought did.
I moved closer.
Close enough she could lean into me if she needed.
Rook noticed.
But kept talking.
“Mercer financed trafficking routes disguised as intelligence extraction pipelines.”
Wolf swore quietly.
“He sold kids through government operations?”
“Yes.”
The word hit like a bullet.
Ava covered her mouth.
Trigger looked ready to throw up.
And suddenly I understood why Rook had that look in his eyes whenever Mercer’s name came up.
Hatred.
Pure hatred.
Rook stepped away from the table slowly.
“Shadow Division discovered what Black Hollow really was after an extraction went wrong.”
His voice lowered slightly.
“We found graves.”
No one spoke.
Rain battered the windows harder.
The storm outside sounding almost violent enough to match the room.
“How many?” Wolf finally asked quietly.
Rook’s stare went distant for half a second.
“Too many.”
Something in Flick broke beside me then.
I heard it in the way her breathing caught.
The way tears filled her eyes instantly.
“My father found this,” she whispered shakily.
