Dante found Naomi in an abandoned warehouse three miles from the airfield.The prisoners were there too. Seven of them. Huddled together. Dirty. Exhausted. Alive.Naomi stood guard near the entrance. Her face was pale. "We made it.""Barely." Dante crossed to the prisoners. "Are any of you hurt?"One of the men stepped forward. Older. Gray-haired. His eyes were sharp despite the fatigue. "We're fine. You saved our lives.""I'm not done yet."The man studied him. "You're Cross. The cleaner.""Was.""Webb's man. The one who eliminated half our people."Dante's jaw tightened. "I did what I was told. I didn't know who you were."The man nodded slowly. "I believe you. But that doesn't change what you've done."Dante had no answer for that. He turned back to Naomi. "We need to move them. Somewhere safe. Webb's men will be searching.""I know a place. Old safehouse. No one's used it in years.""Show me."Naomi led them through the streets. They moved in pairs. Quiet. Fast.The safehouse was

Dante sat in a parked car outside the city morgue.The building was cold. Sterile. Filled with the dead.He'd been watching for an hour. No movement. No signs of Webb's people.Gary's words echoed in his head. "Look at the dead."He got out of the car and entered through the service entrance. The halls were quiet. Fluorescent lights hummed overhead.The morgue attendant was an old man named Petrov. He'd worked here for thirty years. He knew Dante from past jobs."Cross," Petrov said. "I wondered when you'd show up.""You know why I'm here."Petrov nodded. "The bodies. You want to see them.""All of them."Petrov led him to the cold storage. Rows of metal drawers. Each one held a story. Each one held a secret.Dante started with Danny. The young courier from the dead drop. Throat cut. Staged.He examined the body. Looked past the obvious wounds. Checked the hands. The feet. The clothing.Nothing. Just a dead kid who trusted the wrong people.Next was Ana. His backup. His friend. Same s

The port was silent at midnight.Dante stood in the center of the open dock, the folder tucked under his arm. No weapon visible. No backup.But he'd planted a gun in the rusted crane above. An insurance policy.Footsteps echoed. Marcus Webb emerged from the shadows. His hands were empty. But Dante knew better."Cross." Webb stopped twenty feet away. "You came alone.""So did you.""I'm not the one who needs to prove anything." Webb's eyes flicked to the folder. "Is that what I think it is?"Dante held it up. "Everything Gary found. The network's structure. Its funding. Its leadership. One copy. No backups.""Give it to me.""Not until I see the prisoners."Webb smiled. He raised his hand.Lights flooded the dock. Seven figures knelt in the center of the concrete. Hands bound. Heads bowed.The prisoners. Alive."They're right here," Webb said. "Now give me the folder."Dante's grip tightened. "Let them go first.""You think I trust you?""I know you don't. That's why I'm not giving you

Sasha Kral's safehouse was a converted factory on the industrial east side.Dante approached through the loading bay, weapon drawn. The building was dark. Silent. But he could feel eyes on him.A voice echoed from the shadows. "You're late."Sasha stepped into the dim light. Her arms were crossed. Her expression was unreadable."Viktor sent me," Dante said."I know. He told me you'd come." She gestured toward a table in the center of the room. "Sit."Dante didn't move. "I'm not here to make small talk. Aldrich is gone. I need to find him.""Everyone needs to find him. That's the problem." Sasha walked to the table. "Aldrich didn't just disappear. He was extracted. By a team that doesn't exist on any official record."Dante's jaw tightened. "The Agency.""Higher than that. Someone inside the government who's been protecting him for years. Someone who wants the network to survive." She pulled out a folder. "I've been tracking his movements for months. He has three safehouses. Four if yo

Dante stood at the edge of the city, watching the sun rise over the mountains.Naomi found him there. Her footsteps were quiet on the gravel. "You've been gone all night.""Couldn't sleep."She stood beside him. "What's bothering you?""The mole. The second source. Sasha said it was someone from my past. Someone who's been with me from the start."Naomi was silent for a moment. "Do you have any idea who?"Dante shook his head. "I thought it was Webb. But he's dead. I thought it was Gary. But he's dead too.""Maybe Sasha was lying. Maybe there is no second source.""She wasn't lying." Dante turned to her. "I can feel it. Someone is still watching. Still feeding information to Aldrich."Naomi's expression tightened. "Then we need to find them. Before they expose us again.""How? Everyone I trust is either dead or compromised.""Not everyone." Naomi met his eyes. "You still trust me."Dante stared at her. The woman who'd sold him out. The woman who'd come back."I want to," he said. "But