Chapter 16 – Silas - Break Protocol
The burner phone I found in the trash behind Lydia’s building, discarded by the fiend who’d fled is shattered—screen cracked, casing split—but the SIM card is intact.
I pry it out carefully with the edge of a knife and slide it into one of my burner phones. The number loads on the screen.
Unregistered. Anonymous. The kind of burner you buy with cash at a convenience store and toss after one use.
But every phone leaves traces. Registration databases. Procurement records. Tower pings.
I don't have access to those systems. Not anymore. Not while I'm deep cover.
And I can't ask Naomi.
Not after what I found in Drazen's office—those Bureau files sitting on his desk like trophies. Someone inside is leaking information to him. I don't know who. I don't know how deep it goes.
But until Naomi confirms she's caught the leak, I can't risk going through official channels.
Which leaves me one option.
Tyler.
We went through training together six years ago. He went into cyber analysis. I went undercover. We stayed close—not officially, but enough. The kind of friendship that exists in the margins. Useful. Quiet. Built on mutual trust and a shared understanding that sometimes the rules need bending.
If anyone can run this number without triggering flags, it's him.
I open my laptop and launch the encrypted messaging app we set up years ago. It's not tied to the Bureau. Not tied to anything official. Just a secure line between two people who know better than to leave trails.
The interface is clean. Simple. Messages auto-delete after 24 hours unless manually saved.
My username: Wraith.
His: Cipher.
I type: Need a favor. Off-book. Urgent.
I hit send and wait.
One minute passes. Then two.
Finally, three dots appear at the bottom of the screen.
Cipher: How off?
Wraith: Way off. Got a burner number. Need you to run it through procurement and registration databases.
The dots disappear. Reappear. He's thinking.
Cipher: You know what you're asking?
Wraith: Yeah.
Cipher: If I get caught pulling records without authorization, I'm done. Career over. Maybe worse.
Wraith: I wouldn't ask if it wasn't critical. And I can't go through official channels right now.
Another pause. Longer this time.
Cipher: Why not?
Wraith: Leak. Internal. Don't know who yet. Can't risk it.
Cipher: Shit.
Wraith: Yeah.
Cipher: Alright. Send the number. Give me an hour. Maybe more. I'll have to be careful.
I type out the phone number and hit send.
Wraith: Thanks.
Cipher: Don't thank me yet. And be ready—if this traces somewhere bad, you need to have a plan.
Wraith: I will.
The screen shows "Message delivered," then after a moment, both messages fade and disappear. Auto-delete. No trace, no records.
An hour and twenty minutes later, the app pings.
I open it immediately.
Cipher: You there?
Wraith: Yeah. What did you find?
Cipher: Give me a sec. Still pulling the last piece.
I wait, staring at the screen.
Three dots appear. Disappear. Appear again.
Cipher: Ok. Got it. You're not going to like this.
Wraith: Tell me.
Cipher: The number traces back to a SIM registered through federal procurement. Bulk purchase. Six months ago.
My stomach drops.
Wraith: Bureau?
Cipher: Yeah. Task force purchase. But here's the problem—the order is flagged. Restricted access. I can see that it exists, but I can't see the full details without triggering an audit.
Wraith: So someone internal bought that phone.
Cipher: Exactly. And they buried it deep.
Wraith: Can you get a name?
Cipher: Working on it. Hold on.
The dots appear and disappear for nearly five minutes. I sit there, pulse steady but mind racing.
Finally:
Cipher: Called in a favor with someone in procurement. Told them I was doing a routine asset audit. They pulled the original order.
Wraith: And?
Cipher: The purchase was signed off by an agent who's supposed to be dead.
I go cold.
Wraith: Who?
Cipher: Kellan Marrow.
The name hits like a punch.
Kellan Marrow.
I worked with him once. A couple of years ago, before I went deep cover. Sharp, methodical, the kind of agent who never made mistakes. Then he disappeared on an overseas op and was declared KIA when his team couldn't recover his body.
Wraith: He's listed as dead?
Cipher: Yeah. Termination Log 238B. Status: Field death. Body unrecovered.
Wraith: So he could be alive.
Cipher: Or someone's using his credentials. Either way, it's bad.
Wraith: What else do you have on him?
Cipher: Not much. His file is heavily redacted. Last official update was 16 months ago—right before he was declared KIA. After that? Nothing. No closeout report. No clearance trail. Just gone.
Wraith: Like someone pulled him off the grid.
Cipher: Or he pulled himself.
I sit back, staring at the screen.
Wraith: Anything else? Recent activity?
Wraith: Anything else? Any way to track if he's been active recently?
Cipher: Hold on. Let me check something.
I wait. Staring at the screen. The dots appear and disappear. Appear again.
Two minutes pass. Then three.
Finally:
Cipher: Ok. Did two things. First, I checked if any other phones from that same procurement batch have been active recently. Figured if Marrow bought one burner, he might've bought more.
Wraith: And?
Cipher: Found activity from another phone in the same batch. Different number, but same purchase order.
Wraith: Where?
Cipher: That's the second thing. I pulled tower data near your area for the past month. Looking for burner patterns—short signals, no history, disposable behavior.
Wraith: What did you find?
Cipher: Two weeks ago. Brief signal in the Red Zone. East End.
I go still.
Wraith: The block where surveillance is supposed to be dark.
Cipher: Yeah. Signal matches the profile. Burner phone. Five minutes. Long enough to send something, too short to triangulate without assets already positioned.
Wraith: Same batch as the phone I found?
Cipher: Can't say for certain. Different number. But same procurement order. Could be Marrow using multiple phones from the batch. Could be someone else with access.
Wraith: But the timing fits.
Cipher: Yeah. It fits.
I exhale slowly.
Wraith: Anything else? Known associates from his last operation?
Cipher: Hold on. Let me pull what I can from his operational file.
The dots appear and disappear. A minute passes.
Cipher: Most of it's redacted, but I found a few names and surveillance photos from his last assignment. People he was embedded with before he went dark.
Wraith: Send them.
A moment later, files appear in the chat.
Four surveillance photos. Grainy, timestamped from 18 months ago.
The first: a man in his forties, lean, sharp features. Caption reads: Adrian Cole - Financial handler.
The second: a woman, mid-thirties, dark hair. Caption: "Lena" - No last name. Possible informant or asset.
The third: a younger guy, early thirties, standing near a shipping container. Caption: Jaime Soltero - Mid-level facilitator. Logistics and transport.
Wraith: I need to take this to my handler. But I need proof. Can you send me what you found?
Cipher: Are you seriously asking me for this right now?
Wraith: Yeah. Screenshots, files—anything that proves Marrow's name is on that procurement order and that he's listed as KIA.
The dots appear and disappear for a long moment.
Cipher: If I send this and you get caught with it, they'll trace it back. I’m done for.
Wraith: I'll protect you. Your name doesn't come up unless there's absolutely no other choice.
Cipher: What does that mean?
Wraith: I'll tell her I have a trusted source inside Bureau cyber. Someone who knows about the leak and ran this off-book. I won't give your name unless she absolutely needs verification—and only as a last resort.
Cipher: And if she demands it?
Wraith: Then I'll tell her it's you. But I'll make it clear you took the risk to help expose a rogue agent and I had to ask you to help me because of the leak. You're the good guy here. She'll protect that.
Cipher: You better be right.
Wraith: I am. And if the intel checks out—which it will—she won't need to verify the source. The evidence speaks for itself.
Another long pause.
Cipher: Alright. I'll scrub the metadata first. Send it through this app. But you need to save it to a separate device immediately—before the auto-delete kicks in.
Wraith: Understood.
Cipher: And after this, we don't talk about it again. Not until it's over. If this blows back on me, we're both done.
Wraith: It won't. I promise.
Cipher: Sending now. Clock starts when it hits your screen.
A moment later, files appear in the chat.
Screenshots of the procurement order with Marrow's name clearly visible. The termination log—Kellan Marrow, Status: Field death, body unrecovered. A redacted case summary showing his last assignment and the blackout that followed.
Wraith: Got them. Saving now.
I immediately plug in a flash drive and start transferring the files. The progress bar crawls across the screen.
Cipher: Listen—if Marrow's alive and freelance, you're dealing with someone who has Bureau training and no oversight. That's dangerous.
Wraith: I know.
Cipher: Do you? Because whatever you're planning, don't do it alone. Talk to your handler. Show her this. Let her escalate it.
Wraith: That's the plan.
Cipher: Good. Be smart. Be careful. And don't contact me again until this is over.
Wraith: Copy. Thank you.
Cipher: Don't thank me. Just don't get us both fired. Or killed.
Wraith: I won't.
I watch the files finish transferring to the flash drive, then eject it and pocket it, after which the messages start to fade from the screen one by one till the entire conversation is gone.
Then I close the laptop and sit in the silence.
Kellan Marrow.
Supposedly dead.
But alive. Watching Lydia. Leaving notes. Operating with Bureau training and no leash.
The question is: why?
And who's he working for?
I try Naomi's line. Straight to voicemail.
I try again. Nothing.