I pull up his files, searching. The cursor blinks, a heartbeat on the screen. There. An email thread Victor copied from Meridian’s internal servers.
Subject: Regulatory Compliance Review
From: Alexander Reed ([email protected])
To: Sophia Blackwell ([email protected])
The oversight situation has been addressed per our discussion. FDA approval should proceed without further complications.
The time stamp: Two days after the lead FDA reviewer died in a car accident.
“Addressed.” That’s what they call murder. An “oversight situation.”
My hands shake as I screenshot everything. Upload copies to three different secure servers. Send encrypted files to dead-drop email addresses.
Redundancy. If they kill me, the data survives.
I’m building a timeline when a shift in the light catches my attention.
Headlights.
They sweep past the broken windows, illuminating dust motes dancing in the air.
My breath stops.
The lights move slowly. Methodically. Searching.
I kill the laptop screen, plunging us into darkness. I drop to the floor, crawling to the window, keeping below the sill.
A black SUV circles the factory. Same make. Same model as the one that hit Victor. It passes once, twice, then prowls to a stop.
Surveillance. They’re setting up a perimeter.
I crawl back to Jackson. My hand finds his shoulder. He wakes instantly—no grogginess, just an immediate transition from sleep to violence. His weapon rises before his eyes fully open.
“Company,” I whisper. “Black SUV.”
He’s on his feet in seconds, ignoring the injury. He moves to the window, a shadow among shadows. His left arm hangs stiff, but his right hand is rock steady on his weapon.
“How long?”
“Three minutes. Maybe four.”
“Did they see you?”
“No. I killed the screen as soon as I spotted the beam.”
He studies the street, calculating angles of fire. “They’re not moving in. Just watching.”
“Confirming location before calling in reinforcements?”
“Probably.” He turns to me. In the darkness, I catch the flash of approval in his eyes. “Good work. What else did you find?”
“Everything.” The word tastes like iron. “Five corporations, all connected through Nexus Holdings. Phoenix is protectingtheir operations. Killing anyone who threatens them. I found names, patterns, proof.”
“Breathe.”
I force air into my lungs. Slow the heart rate.
