2025-10-05 22:22:19
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
CHAPTER 140
The End of HuntingHong Kong hit them with familiar intensity—neon, humidity, the crush of humanity that made disappearing both easy and difficult. Adrian and Mara had been in the city for two days before Brandt made contact, using those forty-eight hours to establish what minimal security they could manage as internationally wanted fugitives with no resources.The meeting location was the same restaurant where Adrian had first negotiated with Brandt—Dim Sum Dynasty in Tsim Sha Tsui. Full circle back to where the final phase had begun.Brandt was already seated when Adrian arrived, looking no different than she had a year ago. Confident, composed, apparently unconcerned about being in the same city as two fugitives who'd exposed global assassination operations."Cross. Mara. Welcome back to Hong Kong." Brandt gestured to the empty chairs. "I'm glad you decided to accept my invitation.""We didn't decide anything," Adrian said, sitting but maintaining awareness of exits. "We're here be
CHAPTER 139
The story broke at midnight—Rachel Kim's byline with the Guardian, front page digital edition, impossible to ignore:"CIA DIRECTED ASSASSINATION CAMPAIGN AGAINST SHADOW INFRASTRUCTURE GROUP""Leaked documents reveal illegal operations spanning six continents, nineteen deaths authorized without congressional oversight"Adrian and Mara were already on a fishing boat crossing the Strait of Juan de Fuca when their phones exploded with notifications. News alerts, social media mentions, messages from numbers they didn't recognize. The world was reacting to revelations that American intelligence had conducted assassination operations while maintaining public deniability."It's everywhere," Mara said, scrolling through coverage. "CNN, BBC, Al Jazeera—every major outlet is picking it up. Kim's documentation is solid enough that nobody's dismissing it as conspiracy theory."Adrian watched the coastline recede behind them, feeling the weight of what they'd just unleashed. CIA careers would end.
CHAPTER 138
One Year LaterPortland in autumn felt like forgetting. Adrian had been a security consultant for eleven months now—conducting risk assessments for tech companies, reviewing access protocols, training personnel who'd never face real threats. It was boring work that paid well enough, demanded nothing of his conscience, and let him pretend the previous two years hadn't happened.He lived alone in a small house in Sellwood, ran every morning through neighborhoods where the biggest threat was aggressive dogs, spent evenings reading books that had nothing to do with infrastructure or conspiracies or the systematic failures of democratic institutions.He hadn't spoken to his team since Montana. That was part of the agreement they'd made—scatter completely, maintain no contact, become separate individuals with separate lives who'd never worked together on anything. It was the only way to ensure CIA couldn't track them as a group, couldn't identify patterns that would reveal their locations.
CHAPTER 137
The Montana compound became their prison disguised as sanctuary. Days blurred into weeks—training exercises that felt pointless, intelligence briefings about threats they weren't authorized to address, the hollow routine of CIA assets waiting for deployment. Adrian spent most of his time alone, running perimeter trails until exhaustion drowned out thinking. Fourteen faces haunted him—the people he'd killed in Geneva and across the globe. He'd memorized their dossiers, studied their lives, tried to understand whether their deaths had actually prevented anything or just delayed inevitable infrastructure takeover. Six weeks after arriving in Montana, Teller summoned the team for a video briefing. Her expression suggested bad news. "Phase Four has resumed," Teller said without preamble. "The remaining Consilience Group members regrouped faster than anticipated. They've restructured their authorization protocols—no longer requiring multiple members per region. Single authorization now a
CHAPTER 136
The safe house in Lyon became a war room. CIA flooded them with intelligence on the remaining fifteen Consilience Group members—locations, security details, operational patterns. All of them had gone into deep cover after the Geneva massacre, understanding they were being hunted."Fifteen targets in seventy-two hours across multiple continents," Coleman said, studying the tactical maps. "That's impossible even with unlimited resources.""So we don't try to eliminate all fifteen," Adrian replied. "We identify which ones are critical to Phase Four activation and focus on those."Martinez had been analyzing the infrastructure control systems through back channels into the Consilience Group's networks. "Phase Four requires coordinated activation across six regional hubs—North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Middle East, Asia-Pacific. Each hub needs authorization from at least two Consilience Group members. If we can prevent authorization at even three hubs, the global integration
CHAPTER 135
The planning took thirty-six hours. CIA provided information on all eight Consilience Group members attending the Geneva meeting—schedules, security details, vulnerability windows. Teller made it clear this was a sanctioned operation, approved at the highest levels, with full institutional backing."We've identified optimal strike window," Teller explained via secure video call. "Tomorrow evening, they're attending a private reception at a lakeside estate. Limited security due to the confidential nature of their meeting. All eight targets will be in one location for approximately two hours.""You're talking about attacking a diplomatic reception," Fischer said. "Even with CIA backing, that's going to create massive international incident.""The estate is privately owned, guests are attending unofficially. There's no diplomatic immunity, no official government protection. It's classified as private gathering, which gives us operational flexibility.""Flexibility to commit mass murder,"
You may also like
Into the Darkness
Jason Boyce2.7K viewsWho Killed Grace
Kei5.7K viewsALL IN A DAY
tobih daniels2.9K viewsDARK CRYSTAL IN A FULL MOON
Jamung Joel Yenumi2.9K viewsBeneath The Mask
Zibah629 viewsImitation of Life
A.L.E.942 viewsThe Little Girl's REVENGE
Makumbo Nyambu2.0K viewsKing of the Underground
Lilitha Ntlebi428 views