He curated it.
“He wants to force you above ground,” I say. “Wants witnesses. Wants consequences. He must know that you are close to where they are.”
Ronan’s voice drops lower. Deadlier. “He wants me exposed.”
“Yes,” I confirm. “And emotionally compromised.”
A beat passes.
Then Ronan says something that tells me exactly why Malenkov is already losing.
“No,” he says. “He wants control.”
I nod to myself, even though he can’t see it.
“And control only works if we react.”
I bring up a third layer—something Malenkov never thinks to guard.
Time.
“The secondary asset won’t move for another ninety minutes,” I say. “Jonah’s transfer completes first. He thinks you’ll chase what you can see.”
“And we won’t,” Ronan replies instantly.
“No,” I agree. “You’ll finish the shadow. Map the structure. Learn the rhythm.”
“And then?” Jase asks.
I lean back, pulse steady now.
“Then we remove his ability to choose.”
Silence stretches.
Ronan finally says, “You’re certain.”
“As certain as I can be without seeing the whites of his lies,” I answer. “But this—” I gesture to the screen, to the converging data streams, “—this is him overplaying his hand.”
A pause.
Then, softly, “Lena… stay with me on this.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” I say. “He wants to isolate you.”
My voice hardens.
“That won’t happen, sweetheart.”
Outside the operations room, the ocean keeps rolling in—indifferent, endless.
Somewhere underground, Jonah is still counting breaths.
And Malenkov believes the board is his.
He’s wrong.
Because he just gave us something priceless.
