“What she did for the FBI in cybercrimes... it changed her. She was on the edge of burnout before Lark recruited her. Like—straightjacket-level fried. She used to sleep under her desk. Would forget to eat for days. She was barely keeping it together, and then Lark showed up. Gave her a way out. Gave her something to fight for instead of just survive.” Jupiter shook his head. “This has triggered something bigger.”
“Bigger how?”
“My father bigger.” Jupiter let out a long, shaky breath.
“She worked your dad’s case?”
“I’m not sure,” Jupiter said. “She hasn’t mentioned his name. Or even got into the nitty-gritty of it. But it sounded way too fucking familiar.”
“Did you tell her about your dad?”
“No,” Jupiter said softly. “That would destroy the trust she’s put in me, and we can’t have that. I won’t have that. Regardless, she’s never really dealt with what she saw in that basement. What she uncovered. She was unraveling before, but watching that mission implode? Watching people die on her screen and not being able to stop it? That took the crack cyber created in her psyche and broke it.”
“You care about Specs.”
“I understand her,” Jupiter said.
“We’ve been friends a long time.” Kawan arched a brow. “I know you, and I know when you’ve got feelings for someone.”
Jupiter shrugged. “I certainly don’t dislike her, but right now, she needs support, and I’m the one she’s trusting, so I’ll be therefor her. Just like we’ve all been there for each other. It’s as simple as that.”
“Fair enough.”
“Come on,” Jupiter said, pushing off the post. “Ry’s inside. She found something.”
Kawan followed him inside the small cabin, ducking under the low beam and into the cool, blue-lit glow of a couple of portable monitors stacked on the desk. Specs sat in a hoodie that swallowed her frame, hair tied back, eyes hollow and glassy behind a pair glasses. Ry leaned forward, typing something rapid-fire on the keyboard.
“What’ve we got?” Kawan asked, scanning the screen. Dozens of lines of code streamed past, interspersed with grainy black-and-white footage frozen at key timestamps.
Ry looked up. “We’ve been cross-referencing footage gaps with potential access breaches. Whoever intercepted your feed knew what they were doing. This wasn’t just code-level infiltration—it was operational knowledge. Deep. Like inside deep.”
“How inside?” Kawan asked.
Specs didn’t look up. “This wasn’t someone on the perimeter of the mission. Not some arms dealer piggybacking off chatter. This was someone who knew the mission structure, our blind spots, our encrypted routines. My encrypted routines.”
A chill ran down Kawan’s spine. “Jesus.”
“Torin and Bretton weren’t around for all the details. They had limited access. Torin got his briefings remotely. Bretton was embedded. That level of control wouldn’t have come from either of them,” Ry said.
“So, who then?” Jupiter asked. “Wes? Alvarez? Mina?”
Specs finally turned. “I’ve reviewed the footage hundreds of times—no visuals on any of them after the blast. But the thingis, some of the footage repeats. Some cuts out entirely. There are minutes, long minutes, where anything could’ve happened.”
Kawan’s stomach sank. “You’re saying any of them could’ve disappeared?”
“Or been taken.” Ry’s voice was grave. “Or turned.”
“Fuck. It’s bad enough we’re all leaning toward the idea that Lorre tossed us all under the bus and most likely committed treason.” Kawan dragged a hand down his face. “But Lark can’t take another betrayal—not from someone she hand-picked for her team.”
“No,” Specs agreed. “She really can’t, and she’s been working with some of them on and off for years.”
“I know. Our team has worked with them too.” Kawan turned toward the window, stared out at Lark’s cabin. At the woman sitting in a chair, posture rigid. “Loyalty is important to her,” he said. “Her childhood… well, it was a lot. And now this—she has to relive every death each time she closes her eyes. And if we confirm someone she trusted sold her out?”
“It’ll put her over the edge,” Specs whispered. “Worse than I am.”
“You’re not…” Jupiter sighed, moved across the room, and stood behind Specs. “You’re aware. You know why you’re here. What happened. And you’re doing something about it. That matters.”
“So you keep telling me.”
