“Violence on that scale—”
“It won’t be violence.” I shake my head. “Not overtly. He expects brute force. We give him a corporate acquisition.”
Harper blinks. “Awhat?”
“A precision assault hidden inside paperwork,” I explain. “We walk in as a legitimate takeover team. There’s no gunfire, no alarms. We separate Anton from the server before he realizes we’re not the people he hired.”
Iosif leans back, his mouth pursed. “It will require forged clearances. High level.”
“Then we forge them.”
He studies me for a beat, then nods once. “It could work. If you move fast.”
“We will.”
Iris closes her laptop halfway, as if preparing for another blow.
The encrypted radio buzzes.Right as expected.
Kiro’s voice cuts through.
“Blade…”
His tone is wrong. My stomach tightens.
“Report.”
“There’s been a development at the estate,” he says. “They found Orlov.”
Harper’s head snaps up.
“Alive?” she asks.
Kiro’s silence answers for him.
I close my eyes for half a second. Just enough to bury whatever reflex still exists in me for grief.
“How?” I manage.
“Suicide,” Kiro replies. “They found him at his terminal. No footprints except his. No struggle.”
Harper covers her mouth, but not fast enough to hide the tremor in her jaw. Iosif whispers a curse.
But Kiro isn’t finished.
“There was a note,” he says. “On his desk.”
“What did it say?” I ask, bracing myself. The radio crackles.
“She owns you all now.”
The room goes silent. The words hit like a fist to the sternum.
Inessa.
The ghost in the system has stopped following orders. She’s now writing them.
Harper takes a step backward until her shoulders meet the window. Snow swirls outside, collecting at the edges of the glass like ash.
