Chapter 846
“It’s not just assets!” Travis blurted out, desperation raising his voice an octave. “She’s not just selling them — she’s poisoning them. She’s planting liabilities in the shell companies so that whoever buys them goes down with the ship. She wants to burn the whole city’s economy to the ground and walk away with the insurance. And she has the master key to the logistics network. The one you need to find your friends.”
Skye stopped pacing. That was it — the leverage. She looked at Julian. He nodded slightly, acknowledging the plausibility. It was exactly the kind of scorched-earth tactic a Cleaner would use.
“And Liam?” Skye asked, watching Travis closely. “Where does he fit in?”
“Liam is locked out,” Travis said quickly. “Celeste initiated a hard freeze on the mainframe. Even as CEO, he can’t bypass it without a physical key. She has it.”
“Why didn’t Thomas use it?” Julian asked.
Travis’s face crumpled. Tears welled in his eyes, hot and fast. “Thomas… Lucian took him. He’s probably dead.”
Skye froze. Lucian had interrogated Thomas, but she hadn’t asked for the final status update.
“Lucian does what is necessary,” Skye said coldly.
“And the Mastermind?” Travis whispered. “The man behind Celeste? He ordered the purge. He ordered Parker and Victoria taken to the desert.”
Skye felt a chill crawl up her spine. “How do you know about the kidnapping? That information hasn’t left our circle.”
Jo𝘪𝘯 𝗍𝘩е с𝗼𝗆m𝘂𝗻іtу аt 𝗴а𝗹ո𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗅𝘀.𝖼o𝘮
Travis swallowed hard, his eyes darting to Alistair’s gun. “I was in the room when Celeste took the call. She put it on speaker. The Mastermind wanted leverage against you. He specifically asked for the ‘Boy Genius’ and the ‘Heiress.’ He said to send them to the Nevada facility for processing.”
Skye looked at Alistair. His expression was unreadable, but his eyes narrowed.
“The Mastermind is a system,” Alistair said coldly. “Systems don’t pull triggers.”
“His agents do!” Travis cried. “Please — I have nowhere else to go. Celeste thinks I’m dead. If I go back out there, she’ll find me.”
Skye walked over and stood above his shrinking form. “You’re a liability, Travis. You betrayed me once.”
“I was scared!”
“Fear makes people dangerous,” Skye said. She turned to Julian. “What do you think?”
Julian smiled — a thin, sharp expression. “I think he’s a stray dog looking for a master. And stray dogs can be trained.” He stood up, leaning on his cane, and walked around the desk. “Let him stay. I have plenty of room in the kennels. I mean… guest wings.”
“Fine,” Skye decided. “He stays here, under twenty-four-hour surveillance. If he sneaks out, makes a call, or so much as looks at a computer without permission, Alistair shoots him.”
“Understood,” Alistair said, holstering his weapon.
“Thank you,” Travis gasped. “Thank you, Skye.”
“Don’t thank me,” she said, turning her back on him. “Make yourself useful.”
Two hours later, Skye was back at the command center set up in Julian’s estate. The glass walls of the temporary ops room overlooked the rain-soaked gardens. The storm had passed, but the streets below were still slick and black.
“Report,” she said, not turning around as Felix, her head of security, entered.
“Stock prices are up four percent on the rumor that we repelled a hostile takeover,” Felix said efficiently. “But Kensington Global is bleeding. Celeste Cain has initiated a fire sale on the logistics division. She’s moving fast.”
“She’s cashing out,” Skye muttered. “Typical.”