“The AI is safe. We have it. Bradford knows people in some really interesting places. He’s not a bad guy. Still an arrogant fuck, but he’s actually one of the good ones. Anyway, Lorre’s gotta be going nuts, wondering where the fuck the AI is. We have no idea how far up the chain the betrayal goes, but Lorre wasn’t working alone.”
Jupiter muttered, “Knew it.”
Lark’s mouth was dry. She didn’t blink.
“Everything you’ve seen on the dark web feeds? That was Bradford. He’s been creating fake leaks, dummy forums, false leads. Trying to scatter Lorre’s hounds. But he’s not taking the bait. They must believe you have the real package, which means you're not safe. Bradford believes Lorre promised—and took a down payment on the AI—from a terrorist group in South America. We got a partial confirmation of that from Torin. You need to see this feed. Bradford had set up his own, knowing things weren’t quite right. It’s why he muscled his way into that meeting.”
The screen paused, then cut to static—then a new feed.
Grainy, distant, but unmistakable. A video taken from an oblique angle, like a high-mounted drone or a helmet cam.
Bretton appeared first, walking across a clearing.
Then Torin.
Then chaos.
Torin lunged forward, blade flashing in the dim light. Bretton dropped to his knees, clutching his side.
A gunshot.
Alverez burst onto the screen, limping, bleeding from a wound on his thigh, firing. Torin staggered back, wounded, but not dead. He limped off, out of frame.
A single, sharp crack from a different direction.
Alverez jerked, his body twisting before dropping behind cover.
The feed ended.
Lark gripped the edge of the table.
“I remember that shot,” she whispered. “It came from the direction of the chapel after it went up in smoke.”
Kawan narrowed his gaze. “And the sniper we chased? Smaller frame. Limping.”
“Mina was an excellent shot,” Lark said.
Specs hit play on the final clip—Alverez again, back in the dingy safehouse.
“If you got the drive, use the string embedded in the footer of this file—one-time contact point—secure dark web thread. If you reach me, make damn sure it’s safe. Don’t use names. Don’t use locations. No device that’s ever touched a federal system. If I reply, I’ll give you what I know.”
His eyes darkened.
“Mina is alive. But she was never ours. From the beginning, she’d been embedded to steal the AI. She was a plant because she knows the people. The area, but more importantly, she has ties to the group that Lorre sold the AI to. She betrayed thiscountry a long time ago. And Wes…” He hesitated. “I don’t know about Wes. He disappeared before the shootout. I didn’t see him fall. I didn’t see him run. All I know is, I haven’t seen him since. I have my doubts about his loyalty. Be careful.” His voice dropped lower. “I need to stay dead. If I resurface, they’ll finish what they started. But I’ll help where I can. Bradford will too.” He looked down. “Stay safe. Whoever sent in Thor and his team? We owe them our lives.”
The video went black.
Lark held her breath.
Specs finally sat back, exhaling. “That’s a lot to unpack.”
Jupiter rubbed his jaw. “We need to reach out.”
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Lark looked at Kawan.
“We have to. We need to let them know Lorre’s on to everything and that Mina’s on our tail. I’d bet that Wes is out there somewhere, too. They need to protect themselves,” Kawan said.
“And devise a plan,” Jupiter said. “Bradford seems to have this entire backchannel and contacts that we don’t have. We might be able to use them. Then maybe… just maybe… we can flip the game board.”
