Page 80 of Cold Ignition

“That,” Luca said, “I can give you and something we can definitely work with.”

With a small shift of his hand across the console, the main screen changed. Three profiles appeared. Not side by side. Not equal. But staggered, layered, no doubt representing hierarchy.

“These are your primary leadership nodes,” Luca said.

Rangi leaned forward slightly, eyes narrowing as he took them in.

Different. That was the first thing that hit. No obvious uniform. No shared look. No clean way to tie them together at a glance.

One older. Controlled. Corporate polish wrapped around something colder.

One younger, sharper—military posture that hadn’t quite left him.

The third—the third didn’t fit anything cleanly at all.

Rangi didn’t like him. Didn’t know why yet. Just didn’t.

“They don’t operate together publicly,” Luca continued, his tone even, precise. “No shared business fronts. No visible connection. On paper, they don’t know each other.”

Alexios stepped closer beside him. “But they do.”

“Yes.”

Luca tapped the screen. The display shifted—lines connecting, then disappearing, then reappearing in different configurations, like the system itself didn’t want to be seen clearly.

“They meet once a month,” Luca said. “Different locations each time. No pattern in geography, no repetition in venue. Private. Controlled.”

Rangi’s gaze flicked briefly to Keanu.

Then back to the screen. “Wait, they are meeting today?” he asked.

Luca’s mouth curved slightly. “Tonight, to be exact,” he said, “they’re here, in Hawaii.”

Rangi’s jaw tightened.

“Because of the circuit,” he said.

“Probably more likely because of Ahi,” Luca corrected. “Keanu coming out of retirement created a disruption. A variable they couldn’t ignore.”

Alexios’s voice was quiet, but there was steel under it. “So, they came to assess him in particular.”

“Yes.”

Rangi huffed a short breath. “Translation: they came to decide if he’s worth owning—or eliminating.”

Luca didn’t disagree.

“No,” he said. “They came to decide if he’s useful.”

Rangi’s hand flexed at his side. Beside him, Keanu didn’t move. Didn’t react. But Rangi felt the tension in him anyway.

Rangi shifted half a step closer without thinking about it. Not enough for anyone else to clock, but enough for Keanu to feel it as Alexios did the same on the other side.

“They’re not expecting a coordinated strike,” Luca said. “They believe they’re controlling the board.”

Rangi’s mouth curved, slow and sharp.

“Yeah,” he said. “Let’s fix that.”