Page 27

Before getting a response from either of us, he left.

Camila stood and went to the window, arms wrapped around herself, her reflection faint and tired against the glass.

“Everything’s coming apart again,” she stated. “The credibility, the FBI, Graham’s entire strategy is working exactly like he planned it to. I spent months building something real, and he unraveled it with a single phone call.”

I crossed the room and turned her gently by the shoulder until she faced me. “Baby, I’m not going to let you spiral over something Graham engineered specifically to make you spiral.”

“How am I supposed to not spiral, Nikolai? He’s winning.”

“He’s winning a narrow, temporary battle.” I held her face in both hands, forcing her to meet my gaze. “You built a career from nothing that took down half his infrastructure. One phone call doesn’t erase that, whatever it costs you with the Bureau in the short term. I have something considerably more useful than federal approval.”

I pulled up the files on my tablet, spreading three satellite images across the surface of the table. “Yuri’s people identified three isolated properties tied to Graham’s trafficking operation. Compounds used for transporting and housing captive fighters before underground events, disguised as agricultural land and defunct resort developments spread across two states.”

Camila leaned forward, studying the images with the same sharp focus she’d used to study every file we’d worked through together these past few weeks.

“You’re certain these are his?” she asked, studying the images a moment longer before looking up at me.

“Financial trails confirm ownership through four layers of shell companies, all tracing back to accounts we’ve already connected to Graham directly.” I tapped the third image, the most remote of the three, tucked into desert terrain far enough from any highway that satellite imagery had nearly missed it. “This one is different. Recent activity, increased security, vehicle movement patterns that don’t match the others. My people believe it’s being used to store records rather than fighters.” I traced a finger along the perimeter fence visible in the image. “Two access roads, both monitored, staff rotation suggesting a skeleton crew rather than the full security detail his active facilities carry.”

“Records.”

“Financial documentation. Fighter intake logs. Potentially anything Graham considered too valuable to destroy but too dangerous to keep anywhere easily traceable.” I watched her figure out exactly what I was building toward before I said it outright. “If Mateo’s fate was documented anywhere in this entire operation, it’s more likely to exist inside this location than anywhere else we’ve identified.”

I’d already spoken to Yuri that afternoon, before Hayes had arrived, running through the logistics of a quiet approach—men who could move without drawing attention, a timeline that accounted for the skeleton crew’s rotation schedule, and contingencies for extracting anything of value before Graham’s people had any warning at all. Yuri had pushed back once, cautious about moving before we understood the full security picture, and I’d told him we didn’t have the luxury of that caution anymore. Not with witnesses disappearing. Not with Camila’s credibility already bleeding out in front of a federal audience.

Her breath caught audibly. “You think there could be records about him there.”

“I think it’s possible.” I held her eyes steadily, the same honesty I’d given her every time this question had surfaced between us. “But it’s the strongest lead either of us has uncovered since this entire search began, and I intend to reach it before Graham has any reason to suspect we’ve found it.”

“The FBI would never move fast enough.”

“The FBI would need a warrant, jurisdiction across two states, and approval from three separate agencies before they moved at all. Graham would have that location emptied within a day of the paperwork starting,” I replied matter-of-factly. “We move quietly. Before word of tonight’s conversation with Hayes reaches anyone who might warn Graham we’re getting close. Yuri already has a team assembling. We could be in position within thirty-six hours.”

I watched hope flood back into her expression despite everything Hayes had just delivered, despite Graham’s calculated cruelty still hanging over both our heads.

“We’re close,” I told her. “Closer than we’ve been since you first walked into my office and lied to my face. Closer than we’ve been since the day this entire search began.”

She almost laughed at that. “You remember that specifically.”

“I remember everything about that night. And the night after it.” I pulled her against me, feeling the tension in her shoulders ease slightly under my hands. “We’ll find the truth, Camila. Whatever it costs. But I need you to understand that finding it may only be the beginning of a considerably more dangerous fight than anything we’ve faced from Graham so far. If this location holds what I think it does, he’ll know we’ve been there the moment we act, and he won’t take that lying down.”

“I know.” She pulled back enough to meet my eyes. “I’m not asking you to make it safe. I’m asking you to help me find out.”

“Then that’s what we’ll do.”

She nodded against my chest.

“You called me baby,” she remarked in a lower tone.

“I did. Wasn’t the first time, was it?” I asked her, pulling back to meet her eyes again.

“I know. But the first time… we were…”

“Making love, and you thought I just said it absently?” I interrupted.

She tilted her head and squinted her eyes. I chuckled.

“Do I look like that type of man to you? A man who would say things just on the spur of the moment?”