“Show me.”
I wake the laptop, keeping the brightness at a minimum. Jackson leans over my shoulder. His body heat warms my back, a stark contrast to the cold logic on the screen. I’m hyperaware of the careful distance he maintains, protecting me even from his own injury.
“Here.” I pull up the network diagram. “Meridian, Vanguard, Nexus BioTech, Stratton, TerraCore. Different industries, same master. Nexus Holdings.”
“And Phoenix wipes the board for them.”
“Not just investigators. Anyone. FDA reviewers. SEC analysts. Congressional staffers. Whistleblowers.” I point to the timeline. “All ruled accidents, suicides, or natural causes. But statistically? It’s a massacre.”
Jackson’s jaw tightens. “Show me the Nexus structure.”
I navigate to the filings. “Shell companies. But I found the handler. Alexander Reed. Strategic Operations Director.”
“Reed.” Jackson’s voice goes flat. Dangerous. “Fuck.”
“You know him?”
“We have a file on him. Suspected Phoenix liaison, but no proof.” He stares at the email on the screen. “This is proof.”
“There’s more. Reed coordinates directly with corporate leadership. He calls murder ‘addressing an oversight situation.’”
Jackson reads in silence. The muscle in his jaw ticks like a countdown.
“Victor died for this,” I say quietly. “Morrison died for this.”
“And they’ll get justice.” His hand covers mine on the keyboard. Brief pressure. Calloused skin against mine. “But first we need to survive long enough to deliver it.”
“The SUV?—”
“Won’t move until they have backup. We’ve got maybe twenty minutes.” He straightens, the soldier taking over. “Can you work mobile?”
“Everything is backed up. Cloud servers. Dead drops.”
“Good.” He starts gathering supplies, favoring his injured arm but moving with brutal efficiency. “Because we’re not staying here.”
“Where are we going?”
“Somewhere they won’t expect.” He catches my eye. “Ever been to a corporate headquarters at three in the morning?”
My pulse jumps. “That’s insane.”
“That’s why it’ll work.” He tosses me a tactical vest. “If Phoenix is protecting these corporations, then the corporations have to know about Phoenix. Which means they have evidence.”
“You want to break into Meridian?”
“I want to break into Nexus Holdings.” His smile is sharp, a baring of teeth. “According to your research, they have a downtown office. Small, discreet. Perfect target.”
“Security will be?—”
“Minimal. It’s a shell company. They won’t expect a direct assault on their front door.”
He’s right. The probability of Phoenix anticipating an attack on the head of the snake is low. They’re focused on the tail.
“We’ll need access codes. Biometric data. Floor plans.”
“Can you get them?”
I pull up the building’s property records, cross-referencing with city permits. I hack into the building management system. It’s laughable. A firewall made of tissue paper.
