My voice drops.
Cold.
“I see it.”
Because this?
Just became personal.
34
Jase
Location: Safehouse — War Room
Time: 10:07
No one breathes.
The name sits on the screen like a loaded weapon pointed straight at us.
Every instinct I have says the same thing—this changes everything.
Cal is the first to move, pushing off the wall, stepping closer like proximity will somehow make it less real. “That’s wrong,” he says, but there’s no conviction behind it.
Ethan doesn’t answer. His eyes are locked on the data, fingers already moving, digging deeper, verifying.
“Tell me that’s a glitch,” Jonah mutters.
“It’s not,” Ethan replies quietly.
The room tightens.
Because we all know that tone.
That’s not uncertainty.
That’s confirmation.
I step closer to the screen, my gaze narrowing as the profile expands.
Name. Clearance level. Financial ties. Movement logs.
And right there—
connected to Helix.
Connected to everything.
I exhale slowly. “Say it.”
Ethan hesitates for half a second.
Then he does.
“Director Hayes.”
The words land like a detonation.
