Jason lets out a low curse. Lance just shakes his head, once, like he’s trying to reset reality.
“Hayes is oversight,” Cal says. “He signs off on joint ops. He’s cleared at the highest level.”
“Exactly,” Ronan replies.
That’s what makes it worse.
I don’t look away from the screen. “How deep?”
Ethan pulls up more data, and the answer unfolds in real time. “Funding approvals routed through shell programs. Black site authorizations signed under alternate directives. He’s not just connected—he’s facilitating.”
Silence crushes the room.
Because this isn’t infiltration anymore.
This is leadership.
Jonah exhales slowly. “You’re telling me the guy we answer to… is part of this?”
“Yes,” Mila says.
Her voice cuts through everything.
Cal turns toward her. “You knew?”
“I suspected,” she answers. “I didn’t have proof until now.”
I finally look at her.
“You still took it,” I say.
A flicker crosses her expression, something between resolve and something deeper. “Yeah.”
“Even knowing what that could mean?”
Her gaze locks onto mine. “I knew what it already meant.”
That lands harder than anything else in the room.
Because she didn’t just steal data.
She exposed something she knew could get her killed.
Or worse.
Ronan steps forward slightly. “If Hayes is on this list, then we can’t trust command. Not any of it.”
Jason nods. “We’re off-grid now. Completely.”
“We already were,” Lance mutters.
Ethan leans back, running a hand through his hair. “This isn’t just corruption. This is infrastructure. If we move on this wrong, we don’t just get shut down—we disappear.”
My jaw tightens.
“Then we don’t move wrong.”
All eyes shift to me.
