“Yes. A few key players from Erebus and YA,” Will said. Then: “Take me off speaker.”
Savage lifted the phone to his ear, cutting Will’s voice off from the room.
After a moment, Savage’s gaze slid to him.
Once.
Sharp.
The one-sided conversation stretched on for several minutes.
“Understood,” Savage said at last, voice gone flat.
He disconnected the call and stared at the phone for a beat too long.
Silence pressed in.
Titus spoke first. “Tell me what’s going on.”
Savage leaned back, hands braced on the desk. “Will just informed me that the intel Evan Barstow gave us connects to someone with considerable reach.”
“Did he give a name?” Vale asked.
“No, but he should have a name within a few hours.”
Titus felt his stomach tighten. “So, when you said reach, you meant…?”
“I meant we’re out of the usual lanes,” Savage said.
Vale added softly, “This isn’t small-time. Whatever the accountant tripped over—It’s big.”
Savage stood, expression flattening into something that locked the room down.
“As soon as the SecDef gets us that name, I’ve got a job for you both.”
A beat.
“And you might not like it.”
Vale crossed his arms, gaze alert.
Titus didn’t flinch.
Didn’t look away.
He just nodded once.
“Tell us what you need.”
Savage laid out the next steps, but Titus barely caught half of it. His focus kept drifting back to the one order that had carried weight more than anything else.
Don’t loop Kensington in.
Keep shit hidden from Genesis.
A cleaner break, he supposed.
No more desert.
