It was a dismissal, but not a cold one—a practical reset, a way to reclaim control over the chaos. She gave a faint nod and slipped inside the bathroom, letting the lock click behind her.
The tiled room smelled faintly of disinfectant, and the low hum of the cabin’s systems vibrated through the floor. She let her shoulders slump, exhaling a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. It wasn’t peace. Not yet. But it was a standstill, and for now, that was enough.
Sofia grabbeda towel from the clean stack in the safe house’s bathroom. The shower had washed away the grime, but the tension was a deeper stain, lingering in her muscles. Wrapped in a thin cotton robe, she stepped back into the main room.
Tonio was at a workstation, a laptop open, his profile sharp in the bluish light. The purposeful silence from the car had followed them inside.
She hesitated, her damp hair cool against her neck. “The senator. What’s our next move?”
That got his full attention. His hands stilled. He closed the laptop, then stood and pulled on a pair of sweatpants before sitting on the foot of the bed, facing her. The space between them felt charged, no longer with unsaid desire, but with strategy.
“We need proof. Real proof,” he said, his voice low. “Right now, all we have are suspicions. If we move too soon, we tip our hand. He goes on the defensive, and we lose our shot.”
Sofia nodded, crossing her arms. “I have sources. I’m freelance, but some people owe me favors.”
Tonio studied her, then gave a small nod.
“His accounts,” she said, sitting up straighter. “If he’s laundering money or paying people off, there’s a trail. It would show us who’s protecting him.”
Tonio smirked. “You planning to hack into a U.S. senator’s finances?”
“Not me,” she said evenly. “But I know someone who can.”
His smirk widened. “I like the way you think,Bella.”
She ignored the warmth in her chest. “We also need someone inside his circle.”
His expression darkened. “That’s trickier. He’s careful. One hint, and they’re gone.”
“I know,” Sofia said. “But we won’t take him down from the outside. We need someone close.”
Tonio exhaled. “I might have a guy.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah, he’s ex-private security. He protected politicians, senators, and CEOs. But he got burned, then went underground. He has a scar down his neck from a knife fight in Jakarta. And he’s the quiet, dangerous type.”
“That’s a start.” She reached for the burner phone. “I’ll talk to my guy about the accounts. You check in with yours.”
“Is your guy trustworthy?”
Sofia froze. “Yes. We’re more business acquaintances, but he has always been a reliable source of information.”
Before she could dial, Tonio caught her wrist. His gaze was steady. “Once we start this, there’s no backing out.”
Sofia swallowed. She knew that. But this wasn’t just about exposing corruption—it was about survival. “You said that in the car, too. Even if I wanted to, there is no turning back because they already sent people to kill me. It’s been decided that the best way to neutralize me as a threat is death. I’m not backing down. It’s the only way to ensure my survival, and it’s the only way to get justice for my mother.”
“It’s not the only way to ensure your survival. It’s the only way to get justice for your mother, but I can ensure your survival if you choose to walk away from all this. That’s why I asked, because once we start digging further and unearthing buried evidence, there is no going back. It’s gonna be him or us.”
Him or us. Us.His commitment to helping her in the face of such an enemy was as baffling as it was relieving to have someone—someone she was slowly feeling like she could let close—in her corner. “I’m not backing down.”
She carried the burner into the second bedroom, a sparse space dominated by a folding table covered in electronics. The fans from two open laptops whirred softly. Through the wall, she could hear the low rumble of Tonio’s voice—he was already making his call.
She stared at the encrypted messaging app, the cursor blinking in the empty chat window. Her contact wasn’t someone she could just call. He moved in the digital shadows, constantly changing aliases. It had taken her over an hour to find his latest handle.
She typed:Need intel. Urgent.She added their old code—a failsafe to prove she wasn’t compromised.
Seconds ticked by. Her fingers drummed against the desk. If he didn’t answer—
