Rain drummed steadily on the roof of the safehouse as the team spread out across the operations room. The ledger sat open in the center of the table, its yellowed pages filled with scrawled notes and codes.Lily leaned over it, brows furrowed as she traced one of the entries with her finger. “These are account numbers… offshore, in someone else’s name.”Adrian crouched beside her, cross‑referencing with a digital spreadsheet. “Here—see this pattern? It matches the shipments we intercepted last month.”William stood behind them, arms crossed, silent but focused. The storm outside reflected the storm in his mind.Adrian looked up. “Sir, this is enough to start pulling threads. We could leak a page to the authorities anonymously.”“No.” William’s voice was firm, cutting through the room. “If Leonard catches even a whiff that we have this, he’ll burn everything before we can move.”Lily glanced at him, her eyes steady. “So what do we do? Just sit on it?”“We study it,” William said. “We u
The sky over the city was bruised with storm clouds, the last streaks of sunset fading behind the high cranes and silent docks. William stood at the center of the safehouse war‑room, hands braced on the table as Adrian finished the tactical briefing.“West perimeter is thin,” Adrian reported, eyes on the schematics. “Two guards rotating, minimal cameras. If we slip in from here, we can reach the main floor before they know we’re there.”William’s gaze swept over the room—Adrian standing tall and ready, Lily on his left, Sofia on his right, her expression unreadable as always.Lily spoke up, her voice firm. “There’s a second floor with a storage office. That’s where I saw those ledgers—he keeps backups. If we can get those…”William’s eyes met hers. There was a flicker of pride, and something warmer beneath it.“Then that’s our priority,” he said.Sofia cleared her throat lightly. “Sir,” she addressed William, her tone all business, “my men will hold the entry for fifteen minutes max.
The storm outside had grown heavier by dawn, thunder rolling low across the skyline. Inside the safehouse, the hum of activity never slowed—maps, intel, and whispers filled the corridors. Lily stood at the observation window overlooking the courtyard, her fingers absently tracing the glass as her thoughts ran miles ahead.William’s voice came from behind her, calm but with that familiar edge of exhaustion.“You’ve been standing there a long time.”She didn’t turn immediately. “Thinking,” she said softly. “Leonard won’t stop. You know that.”“I do,” William replied, stepping up beside her. His reflection in the glass looked as tense as she felt. “Which is why we move before he does.”She studied him, the man who always seemed untouchable—cold, calculated, unshakable. But now, in the faint morning light, there was something else in his eyes: a glimmer of worry, tightly controlled but undeniable.“William,” she said quietly, “I don’t want you to underestimate Natasha. You told me yoursel
Back at the safehouse, the rain had finally eased, leaving the night air heavy and cool. The SUV screeched to a stop inside the courtyard. William was out first, pulling open the rear door for Lily, his hand steadying her as if he couldn’t bear to let go yet.Adrian stayed behind long enough to sweep the perimeter with his weapon before following them inside. Sofia strode ahead, already speaking into her comms, her sharp eyes scanning the shadows.Inside the operations room, the tech team scrambled to clear the table as William spread out the crumpled paper Lily had recovered. Under bright lights, the messy handwriting and coded notations came alive.Adrian whistled low. “Sir, this is… this is everything. Routes, offshore contacts, even bribe accounts.”Lily sat in the corner, wrapping her bruised wrists in gauze. Her face was pale, but her chin was high. She caught William’s gaze briefly and managed a small smile. “Told you I wouldn’t come back empty‑handed.”William stepped closer,
The hours crawled by in the dim, windowless room. Lily sat hunched on the cold floor now, her wrists raw from working against the ropes. Every sound outside the door made her heart race, but not with fear—with calculation. She studied the rhythm of footsteps, the way voices drifted in and out. Leonard’s men were organized, but they weren’t expecting resistance from their captive.Her mind replayed the images from the papers she’d managed to steal. There were shipment codes, a schedule, even a sketched diagram of a secondary route—Leonard’s contingency plan. If I can get this out, she thought fiercely, William will have exactly what he needs.The door scraped open suddenly, flooding the room with harsh light. Two men entered, one carrying a tray of food, the other standing guard with a rifle slung over his chest.“You should eat,” the man with the tray said, smirking. “You’ll need your strength when Leonard decides what to do with you.”Lily’s gaze didn’t waver. “Tell him I said hello,
The hours crawled by in the dim, windowless room. Lily sat hunched on the cold floor now, her wrists raw from working against the ropes. Every sound outside the door made her heart race, but not with fear—with calculation. She studied the rhythm of footsteps, the way voices drifted in and out. Leonard’s men were organized, but they weren’t expecting resistance from their captive.Her mind replayed the images from the papers she’d managed to steal. There were shipment codes, a schedule, even a sketched diagram of a secondary route—Leonard’s contingency plan. If I can get this out, she thought fiercely, William will have exactly what he needs.The door scraped open suddenly, flooding the room with harsh light. Two men entered, one carrying a tray of food, the other standing guard with a rifle slung over his chest.“You should eat,” the man with the tray said, smirking. “You’ll need your strength when Leonard decides what to do with you.”Lily’s gaze didn’t waver. “Tell him I said hello,