Ghost finally turned his head slightly. Not fully. Just enough that the mask angled toward Brutus.
“Because I’ve watched ring,” he said. “And I’ve watched victims. She’s neither.”
Ranger shifted his weight. “She could be a pressure point. They use people like that.”
Ghost’s fingers resumed their movement, but his voice stayed tight. “Yes. That’s what I’m saying.”
Cap’s gaze flicked to the screen again, then back to Ghost. “Name.”
Ghost hesitated.
Not long.
Just long enough.
Then he said it.
“Jasmine.”
The name sat in the room like a match struck in darkness.
I felt it.
Not because the name meant anything to me.
Because Ghost said it like it mattered.
Cap nodded once, filing it away. “Okay. Jasmine. If she’s a point of contact, she’s either useful or vulnerable. Possibly both.”
“Vulnerable,” Ghost said instantly.
Brutus made a low sound like he was annoyed by Ghost’s certainty.
I stayed quiet, but I watched Ghost’s hands. The way they moved faster now. Like he needed to bury something inside the work.
Cap tapped the table once. “What else.”
Ghost clicked to a map view again. “The firm intersects with a shipping company. The same shipping company whose trucks were parked near the rural holding point.”
Ranger leaned in. “So the law firm handles the paperwork, the shipping company moves product.”
“Bodies,” Brutus corrected.
Ghost didn’t flinch. “Yes. Bodies.”
Cap’s jaw tightened. “That’s escalation.”
“It gets worse,” Ghost said.
He pulled up a message log. Not from Amanda’s phone. Not from Scout’s. Something else.
“Intercepted traffic,” Ghost explained. “Encrypted. Partial decrypt. Enough to catch keywords.”
Cap leaned closer. “And.”
Ghost’s voice went lower. “They’re moving faster.”
Ranger frowned. “Because we hit them.”
