The room fell quiet as they watched it happen.
Ash flattened his palm on the table, letting his pinky brush the edge of her hand.
She dragged in a breath like she’d been underwater.
For half a heartbeat, her eyes met his. Too bright. Too raw.
Then she nodded and shared her screen.
The next hour moved fast. Data layered over data. After their raids in upstate New York and Wyoming, Cipher had pivoted fast.
“He’s liquidating,” Ellory breathed.
The room hushed.
Ash met her stare.
Fear shadowed her eyes, but it wasn’t just fear of Cipher. It was deeper. Personal.
Before he could move toward her, Con jerked his chin at him. “Ash, get Alpha and Sierra updated on this.”
Ash shifted to the far end of the table, sliding on the headset as activity surged. Dante and Elin dove into national fire databases for the last six weeks. Chickie pulled up satellite overlays. Sophie layered zoning maps.
Dante turned his monitor. “Three more fires. All within thirty days. All tied to secondary subsidiaries.”
The air in the room thinned.
“He’s burning it all. Cleaning house.” Sinner grabbed his coffee cup but didn’t drink it.
“He’s running scared,” Con said.
Ash looked around the war room and saw it in every face—they weren’t chasing Cipher anymore.
They were closing the trap.
Ellory’s chair screeched back.
She crossed to the big map and jabbed her finger at a single yellow pin sitting just outside the arc of destruction.
“So why not that one?”
It wasn’t really a question.
In the glaring symmetry of the other burned properties, that one stood alone.
“Every destroyed property is industrial,” she pressed. “Warehouse. Office. Storage facility.” Her finger trembled as she pointed. “That’s zoned commercial.”
Sophie frowned. “That one’s an empty lot. Old gas station was torn down last year.”
“No.” Ellory shook her head. “Look at the timing. Insurance payout delayed. Property taxes deferred. There was a transfer request filed and then canceled.”
Ash saw it then—the way her breath shortened. The way her hands curled in on themselves.
“What if he’s holding something there?” she whispered. “What if he hasn’t burned it yet because—”
Because her brother was inside.
The words hung unspoken, but he heard them.
