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“So we know Captain Monroe’s involved with the Viper somehow,” Teo muttered, his eyes never leaving the building. “It’s like they’ve got endless resources at their disposal.”
“Right,” I agreed, my mind racing with the implications. “He was the one blackmailing the captain and Jace mentioned something about an expert hacker doing that. Means he must have someone on the payroll to do that, since my father himself never knew much about computers. I think this is bigger than we initially thought. If Captain Monroe is involved beyond being blackmailed, then the Viper’s reach extends far beyond what we ever imagined.”
“So what do you think that was?” Teo said. We waited for the shadowy figure to get into a car parked around the corner. “Someone working for Monroe or someone working for the Viper?”
“I don’t know,” I replied, swiping over my phone screen as the shadowy figure got into a car in front of us. “But I just sent a picture of their car to Jace. Hopefully he’ll have some insight when he does a more thorough check.”
Teo sighed. “Whatever the case, we have to be careful,” he said. “If he is as powerful as he seems, then we’re going to be in a lot of trouble when he realizes he didn’t beat us.”
“Speaking of being careful… How’s Sam?” I asked, concern for my brother gnawing at the edges of my thoughts. He’d been under surveillance by the Mercy Blades ever since we discovered our connection to the Viper, and he’d been involved in our mission down South.
“Still under watch, but thankfully safe for now,” Teo replied, his words offering me some small comfort. “We’re doing everything we can to protect him, sunshine.”
“I know,” I said. “But it still makes me uneasy that he won’t quit the force and…”
“He needs to keep up appearances, Sof,” Teo said, his hand playing with my ponytail. “Posturing is part of the game.”
“He already feels so bad about what happened with Archer,” I said. “I can’t bear to tell him about the Viper being our dad.”
“You should tell him,” Teo said. “He’s going to find out one way or another. It’ll soften the blow if it comes from his sister.”
I shook my head. “Nothing softens this blow, Teo.”
“Hey,” Teo’s hand suddenly found mine again, his warm grip grounding me in the moment. “Sam’s tough. He’s going to be okay.”
I nodded, swallowing the lump in my throat. The stakes were high, higher than they’d ever been, and the thought of losing Sam terrified me more than anything else. But I couldn’t afford to let fear control me – not when so many lives were on the line.
Teo leaned closer, his breath warm against my cheek as he whispered, “We’ll get through this, Sofia. We’ll protect Sam and take down the Viper. Together.”
My heart fluttered at the conviction in his voice, and I turned to face him, my gaze meeting his honeygold eyes. At that moment, the rest of the world seemed to fall away, leaving only the two of us.
“You make it very hard not to kiss you all the time,” Teo said.
“I’m just sitting here.”
“Exactly my point,” he said.
I laughed.
“I promised you,” Teo replied without hesitation, his free hand coming up to cup my face. “No matter what it takes, we’ll protect Sam. I always keep my promises, Sof.”
I was about to ask him where Sam was right then when he looked at his watch. “Jace,” he said, swiping over the screen. “We can both hear you.”
“Hi,” Jace said, his voice broadcasting over the car’s speakers. “How’s the stakeout going?”
“You two can do social time later,” Teo said. “What’s up?”
“Right, sorry, boss,” Jace said. “So it looks like the person in the car you spotted is one of Monroe’s associates. We’ve been keeping tabs on him for a while now, and it seems like he’s been transferring money to various offshore accounts belonging to the Viper.”
My heart sank at the news. The Viper’s reach was wider than we thought, and we were running out of time to stop him.
“How’s the Viper funding all of this?” I asked. “That’s what I don’t understand. Where did he get all this money for all these flunkies?”
“That’s what we’re trying to figure out,” Jace replied. “But from what we’ve gathered, it seems like he’s been involved in a lot of illegal activity for a long time now. White-collar crime, arms dealing, you name it.”
“Arms dealing?” I asked. “Arms dealing?”
“Hey, don’t shoot the messenger,” Jace said, then took a second. “Wait.That’sthe part you’re upset about?”
