Alexei glances at me, reading the shift in my posture. His foot presses harder.
"Where are you now?"
"Outside Hartley's building. Watching." A pause. "You want me to go in?"
"Yes, but get some of the guys to go with you. We should think everything is a trap with them."
"Understood."
I switch channels. "Viktor, Dominic. Dimitri needs backup at Hartley's brownstone. Now."
"On our way." Viktor's already moving. I hear car doors slamming in the background.
Back to Dimitri. "Don't go in until they arrive."
"Da."
The line goes dead.
Alexei takes a corner hard enough that the tires scream. We're still too fucking far.
Through the earpiece, I catch Hartley's voice again, smooth and professional.
"I should let you get back to your family, Connor. I just wanted you to know that I'm available twenty-four seven. Any concerns, any questions, you call me directly."
Footsteps echo across tile.
"Yuri?"
"Hartley is going toward the elevator."
My jaw tightens. "Stay with Fee."
The SUV weaves between two delivery trucks. Alexei's expression stays blank, focused, but his knuckles are white against the steering wheel.
"Dimitri." I switch back. "Viktor and Dominic there yet?"
"Pulling up now."
"Good, but be extra vigilant. Things aren't what they seem today."
"Why do you say that?"
"Because the man who's talking to Connor at the hospital isn't David Hartley. Someone's wearing his face."
Chapter 21
Last Call
The Forger:
Any good actor knows when to leave the stage.
Seven years of building the Volgograd network. Creating identities. Burning through obstacles. Seven years of perfect control.
Then this woman unravels everything. Calculus homework and that brilliant mind dissecting HeartSync's architecture like she'd written the code herself.
She's not just bait. She's potential incarnate. The architect of everything we could build together.
