Chapter 852
Travis hesitated. Alistair took one step forward. Travis dropped the phone. It clattered onto the tile floor.
Skye walked in past Alistair and crouched to pick it up. She studied the screen.
“Sending files to ‘Mother,’” she read. “Cute code name for Celeste.”
She looked up at Travis. “You lose, Travis. Game over.”
Travis slid down the wall and collapsed onto the floor. He buried his face in his hands and began to sob. “Please — don’t kill me. The Syndicate… they said they’d kill me. They said I had a debt.”
“A debt?” Skye asked, her voice incredulous. “You sold us out for money?”
“Not just money!” Travis cried. “My life! Celeste said she’d activate the kill switch. I have a tracker embedded in my neck. If I don’t deliver, she blows my artery.”
Skye’s expression softened, just a fraction. “A micro-explosive. Standard Syndicate leash.”
“I didn’t want to do it!” Travis sobbed. “But I don’t want to die!”
“We’re sharks who eat other sharks,” Skye said. She crouched down in front of him. “Do you want to live?”
𝖱𝘦a𝘥 on 𝖺𝗇y 𝗱𝗲𝘷𝗂𝘤𝘦 on 𝘨𝖺𝘭𝗻о𝘃𝖾𝗅𝗌.𝘤𝘰𝘮
Travis looked up, his face wet with tears. “More than anything.”
“Then stop crying and start listening,” Skye said. She pulled a USB drive from her pocket and held it up. “This is the file she wants. It looks real — it has names, numbers, accounts. But it’s a Trojan horse. The moment she opens it, it will ping her location to our servers. We’ll find the codes to the prison.”
“You’d help me?” Travis asked, disbelief breaking through the tears.
“I’m helping myself,” Skye said. “Saving your neck is a bonus. But you have to sell it. You have to make her believe you betrayed us.”
“I can do that,” Travis said, wiping his face.
“Good.” Skye stood and tossed him the phone. Alistair switched off the jammer. “Send it.”
Travis hit retry.
AdChoices
ADVERTISING
Sent.
“Now,” Skye said, offering him a hand up. “Let’s go finish the game. I have a feeling I’m going to win.”
The Ops Room at the Vance Estate hummed with quiet intensity. The large wall screen displayed a map of the city, and a single red dot pulsed near the coastline.
“We have a lock,” Felix said, his fingers flying across the keyboard. “She opened the file. The signal is coming from the old shipyards — Warehouse 13.”
“Warehouse 13,” Skye muttered. “Classic villain hideout.”
Travis stood by the door, pacing. His phone buzzed.
“It’s her,” he said, his voice trembling. “She wants a physical meet. She doesn’t trust the digital copy. She wants the hard drive.”
“She’s paranoid,” Alistair said. “Smart.”
“It’s a trap,” Julian said from the corner. “But it’s also our only way in.”
Skye turned to Felix. He looked tired, his usual stoicism cracking at the edges.
“Felix,” Skye said gently. “We need to talk.”
Felix looked up. “About the mission, Boss?”
“About the risk,” Skye said. “Travis is going to walk in there with you. You’ll be his muscle. But Celeste might test him.”
“I know,” Felix said, checking his weapon. “She’ll want proof of loyalty.”