Chapter 251
Chapter 251:
Then the chat window flashed. A new message from the dealer appeared: Too much heat. Deal canceled.
Before June could touch the keyboard to initiate a trace, the account was permanently deleted. The digital footprint dissolved into nothing.
She hit the enter key hard, forcing a trace, but the firewall shut her out entirely.
“They used a military-grade Tor relay,” June muttered, her voice tight with frustration. “They bounced the signal p>
Crawford slammed his fist on the table, rattling the laptops. “Those rats must have installed frequency sniffers near the subway station. They picked up our radio traffic and aborted p>
The trap had failed. The evidence was gone.
S𝘁𝗈𝗿iеs 𝘺𝗈u 𝗐𝗼𝘯’𝘵 𝗽𝘂𝘁 𝘥𝗼𝗐𝗻 𝘰𝗇
June leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes, pressing her fingers to her temples. The sheer exhaustion of the past forty-eight hours, compounded by the crushing failure, triggered a blinding migraine behind her eyes.
Crawford saw the pallor of her face. The anger in his chest dissolved instantly, replaced by a heavy, protective ache. He crossed to the minibar, poured a glass of warm water, stirred in a packet of honey, and set it gently beside her hand without a word.
“Don’t spiral,” he said, his voice low and steady. “If destroying a black-market syndicate were easy, the FBI would have done it years ago. We regroup tomorrow p>
June opened her eyes and gave him a tired nod. “I just need a hot shower to clear my head p>
She had barely risen from her chair when the suite door burst open.
Brogan rushed in, his face completely ashen, his phone clutched tightly against his chest.
“June,” he said, his breathing ragged. “I just received an alert from our head of compliance in New York. Someone with high-level internal clearance just attempted to sabotage the second-generation trial data and frame me for it. The board is calling an emergency ethics hearing. If I’m not there to respond in person, they’ll use this to remove me and freeze the entire project p>
June’s blood ran cold. The second-generation drug was the foundation of Apex Bio’s future. Her mind pivoted instantly from the failed sting to the corporate emergency unfolding in New York.
“This has Alycia’s fingerprints all over it,” she said, her voice dropping to ice. “Go. Get on the next flight back to JFK. You are the only person with the executive authority and technical knowledge to dismantle this frame job. It is our top priority right now. Crawford and I will handle the Boston end p>
Brogan nodded, grabbed his coat, and sprinted from the suite. The door slammed shut behind him.
The Presidential Suite fell into complete silence.
His sudden departure had inadvertently created something neither of them had anticipated — June and Crawford were now entirely alone.
By one in the morning, the Boston winter storm had escalated into a violent tempest. Heavy rain lashed against the floor-to-ceiling windows of the Presidential Suite.
The massive suite was divided into two private bedrooms — Suite A and Suite B — connected by a sprawling shared living room.