Novels by JAYNE

Patricia answered her phone. “Good evening,” she said.“Good evening,” Rafael replied. His voice was calm.Patricia paused before speaking again. “You chose the right time. I was about to call you myself.”“Then we both saw the same problem,” Rafael said.Patricia tightened her grip on the phone. “Nathan has been very silent, and his silence is dangerous. He has not called me, and he has not answered my messages. He knows too much to disappear without a word.”“I know,” Rafael said. “His silence has meaning. I have sent him a message. All we need to do is wait for his reply.”Patricia lowered her voice. “What if he has already chosen to go against us? After all, we betrayed him and did not offer him any form of protection. What if he is speaking to others?”“Then he will regret it,” Rafael said.“You sound certain,” Patricia said.“I am,” Rafael answered.Patricia moved in her seat. “He knows my name and the part I played. If he talks, I cannot hide.”Rafael’s voice grew firm. “Nathan

Nathan sat at the small table in the safe house. The laptop was open in front of him, and the folder of files waited on the screen. Emma entered the room carrying a notebook. She sat across from him and opened the notebook to a blank page.“Did you rest?” Emma asked.“Yes,” Nathan said. “I slept for some hours. It was not deep, but it was enough.”Emma wrote a line in the notebook and said, “That is good. Today, we will move slowly. We will take only what we can use right away. There is no reason to rush.”Nathan nodded. “I agree.”She pointed to the screen. “Show me the folder you called ECHO again.”Nathan opened the folder. “This folder holds the payments I showed you last night. It also has a second sheet I have not opened yet. I was not sure if it was relevant.”“Open it now,” Emma said.Nathan clicked. The screen showed another spreadsheet. “This one lists smaller accounts. They are not major sums, but they repeat in the same time window. Each small account belongs to a vendor

The staircase door opened. Ace held a small light low to the floor and said, “Stay close.”Emma touched Nathan’s shoulder and said, “We are leaving now.”Nathan nodded. At the bottom step, a tall man waited in a black jacket.“Are you Nathan?” the man asked.“Yes,” Nathan answered.“Come with me,” the man said. He shook Ace’s hand and then turned toward the alley.Emma leaned close to Nathan. “We are right behind you. Do exactly what he says.”Nathan glanced at Ace and asked, “You will be watching?”“Yes. Every turn,” Ace said.They moved quickly through the hall and out toward the car. The man opened the rear door and said, “Keep your head down. There are no lights inside.”Nathan slid into the seat. The door closed with a soft thud, and the engine started.“Do not talk on the road,” the driver said. “Keep all phones off.”Nathan held his breath and stared at the seat in front of him.A second car rolled out behind them with its lights off. Emma sat in front, and Ace drove.No one s

The door opened before Emma could knock again. Nathan’s eyes widened.“Finally,” he whispered. “You didn’t call the cops, right?”“No, I didn't call anyone. No cops,” Emma said, holding up her hands. “We just want to talk.”Ace stepped forward. “Nathan, we’re not here to scare you. Let’s handle this inside.”Nathan hesitated. “Inside… okay. But don’t touch anything. Don’t look around.”He led them in. The apartment smelled damp and stale. Papers were everywhere. The laptop on the desk was powered. Everything was in disarray. Blankets were dumped on the couch.Nathan shuffled, avoiding their eyes. “Sit… no, sit there… no, sit here.”Emma whispered to Ace, “Be calm. Let him settle down.”Ace’s jaw tightened. “I just want straight answers.”Nathan flinched. “I’m not playing. I… I’m not sure if I can answer everything. I can't tell friends from enemies.” Nathan said.Emma stepped closer. “We know you’re scared. Trust us for a moment. Can you do that?”He nodded slowly, pacing. “They’re wa

Emma sat at her desk, her laptop open; she was going through her mailbox. After checking, she opened her spam folder to empty it, and then she caught sight of an email without a subject, and the sender’s address was very strange. Her spam always contains several emails from marketers and people advertising or trying to sell one thing or another. This one is from an unknown sender, with no subject line, only an attachment. She rubbed her temple and hesitated. For a second, she considered whether to delete it or not, but something in her gut told her to open it. She clicked. Inside was a set of files, fragmented, incomplete, like pieces of a puzzle. She scrolled through them quickly. Her pulse began to rise. There were numbers, transactions, and hidden accounts. Some of them looked familiar. Some of them looked like secrets that were never supposed to see daylight.She sat back, her heart thudding. Whoever sent this knew something. Whoever sent this wanted her to see it. This has Oceani

Nathan sat at the table. The flash drive lay in front of him. He poked it with one finger. He has refused to send half of the mystery caller's request from earlier because he was scared of losing part of his leverage to an unknown person.“You again,” he muttered to the flash drive. “Always staring back at me. You don’t blink. You don’t help. You just sit there looking guilty.”His phone buzzed. He flinched and grabbed it.Message: Send part of the files to Emma. Anonymous. Do it tonight. Do not fail.Nathan blinked at the words and screamed out. “No… no, no, no, no, no. Not me. Not this. Are you working for Emma? I knew Emma was behind this unknown caller. Emma! You sneaky one.”He read it again. Send part of the files to Emma.He laughed weakly. “Part of the files? What does that even mean? Half? A quarter? What is this, a pizza order? ‘I’ll take one slice of fraud with one slice of money deposit and some extra fake supplier approvals. Please.’”He dropped his phone on the table, pr