Chapter 654
Chapter 654:
“I’ll tell him I was forced,” Tessa said. “That you held a gun to my head. That I saved a copy of the key on a drive to buy my freedom p>
“And where is this drive?” Skye asked.
“In a safe-deposit box,” Tessa improvised. “One that requires two keys. Mine… and his p>
Skye smiled. It was risky. It was reckless. It was perfect.
“Okay,” Skye whispered. “But you’re wearing a wire. And a vest. And Liam will be one shadow away p>
“Deal,” Tessa said.
The rain was torrential, washing the grime of the city into the gutters.
The Neon Motel was a dive on the outskirts of the city, the kind of place people went to disappear. Room 4 was dark.
Marcus, Lucian’s last remaining loyalist who had escaped the raid, stood guard by the window.
“Boss,” Marcus grunted. “Someone’s outside. It’s the girl p>
Lucian sat on the edge of the bed. His leg was bandaged with dirty rags, throbbing with every heartbeat. He raised a stolen revolver. Skye’s intel had been precise. They had tracked a burner phone signal to this exact dump, but they hadn’t moved in. They needed Tessa to flush him out into a place where they could contain him without collateral damage.
The door creaked open.
Tessa stumbled in. She was soaked, covered in mud, shivering violently.
“Don’t shoot!” she cried, collapsing on the stained carpet.
Lucian stared at her. “You p>
“I escaped,” Tessa sobbed. “That bitch… Skye… she tried to kill me… she said I was useless p>
It was a lie wrapped in truth. The perfect camouflage.
𝘑o𝗂𝗇 𝗍𝘩𝖾 сom𝗺𝗎nі𝗍у 𝗮𝗍 𝖻е.𝖼𝗈m
“She tried to hand me over to the cops,” Tessa wept, pulling up her sleeve to show bruises she had inflicted on herself with a rock. “I ran… I stole a car p>
Lucian limped over to her. He pressed the muzzle of his gun against her forehead.
“Why come here?” he hissed. “How did you find me p>
“The emergency number,” Tessa whimpered, citing a protocol Lucian used for his top staff. “You told me once… if everything went wrong… call the burner. I tracked the cell-tower ping. I used to date a tech guy… please, don’t kill me p>
Lucian lowered the gun slightly. It was plausible, and he was desperate enough to believe in miracles.
“Why not run to the police?” he asked.
Tessa looked up. Her eyes were wide with feigned terror. “Because I have something you want,” she whispered. “Before she wiped the servers… I made a copy p>
Lucian’s hand froze. “What p>
“A ghost drive,” Tessa said. “I didn’t trust her. I wanted insurance. I copied the crypto keys to a physical drive before the wipe p>
Lucian’s eyes burned with a mixture of suspicion and desperate hope.
“Where is it?” he demanded.