Chapter 23
Specter
The wall clock’s red digits mocked me. Three days since Selina vanished. Seventy-two hours of chasing nothing, a knot tightening with each tick.
I stood against the wall, watching the command center. A dozen SENTINEL agents moved through the converted office, voices low under the hum of hardware. Zagreb filled the screens. Two red circles marked the warehouses we’d flagged.
“Primary objective remains document recovery.” A tactical officer addressed his team, his back to me. “Intel says these facilities tie to Oblivion’s network.”
My jaw worked. All this time, and Selina was still a side note.
I caught my reflection in a dark monitor. Lean face, shadows under my eyes, stubble going wild. The gaze looking back was steady. I’d done worse on less sleep.
“Wolfe?”
I didn’t turn. The name still felt borrowed.
“Seventy-two hours, and you’re still chasing paperwork instead of finding her.”
Mattie walked in with two coffees. Damon shifted without making it obvious, putting himself between us. Protective reflex. Still didn’t trust me.
“Here.” Mattie offered a cup around him. No hesitation. “You look like you need this more than I do.”
I took it. “Thanks.”
“Any news?”
I shook my head. The coffee was bitter. “Nothing.”
The hotel lobby flashed in my mind. My call to Damon, turning back to Selina’s spilled cup, a security guard out cold. No struggle. Just a gap where she should’ve been.
“Raid teams deploy in an hour. Both locations. Same time.”
“And if she’s not there?”
“Then we keep looking,” Mattie cut in.
“Dr. Prieto’s optimism isn’t misplaced.” Damon’s focus stayed on me. “But Dresner plans ahead. He won’t stash her somewhere obvious.”
“Then why hit the warehouses?” The edge in my voice made Mattie flinch.
“They’re access points to Oblivion’s network. Best chance to trace her.”
“If she’s still alive.” The words escaped before I could stop them.
Mattie touched my arm. “She is. Dresner didn’t take her to kill her. He wants something.”
“Her expertise. He’ll keep her alive as long as she’s useful.”
“And when she isn’t?”
His expression hardened. “Then we find her before that.”
“We will.” Mattie stepped between us. She believed it. I’d seen what Oblivion did to belief.
I drained the cup and crushed it. “Put me on the raids. Better than waiting here.”
“Absolutely not.”
“Why? Afraid I’ll snap back to default? Or that I won’t take orders?”
“Both. And you’re too close to this.”
“That’s rich, coming from you.” I nodded at Mattie. “At least I’ll say what she is to me.”
His expression didn’t change. His phone rang before either of us could push it further. Mattie cleared her throat.
“We’ll find her. She’s strong. Remember that.”
I thought of Selina, the way she kept showing up, for me, even when I wouldn’t for myself. Seventy-two hours with Dresner would stretch forever.
“I know. Everyone breaks.”
And Dresner knew how to make it happen.
“We have something.” Damon gestured to a side room. “Private briefing.”
We followed him. Coffee-stained briefs cluttered the table. Blue light from the monitors cut across the surfaces. Quieter here. The tension came along anyway.
Damon set a laptop on the table. “One of my analysts sent this.”
Grainy CCTV. A side street in Zagreb. Two men in suits. Selina between them, head down, unsteady. Drugged. They steered her into a black SUV.
I sipped the coffee I didn’t want. Kept my grip steady. Detachment. It’s kept me alive.
“When?”
“About ten minutes after you last saw her.”
“And you’re still burning staff on facilities instead of tracking the SUV?” I tossed a stack of papers aside.
“Orders from above. Those documents could expose the network. We could take Oblivion down.”
“Bullshit.” I leaned in. “What else are you not saying?”
He didn’t blink. “Everything that matters to the op.”
“Which means nothing that gets me to Selina.”
We held. Neither of us gave.
“What about vehicle recognition?” Mattie interjected. “Make and model. Cross with traffic cams along likely routes.”
“Already running. Limited hits. They swapped vehicles twice. I sent it all to Commander Dawson for another pass.”
“So we’ve got nothing.”
“We’ve got more than yesterday. We’re moving.”
“While Dresner still has her.”
“Running blind won’t help. We don’t know where she is.”
“I don’t need progress reports. I need a location.”
His mouth thinned. “You think I don’t want to find her? She’s my colleague.”
“And your job matters more than her life. Got it.”
“My job is saving lives at a scale you can’t imagine. One person versus thousands.”
“Her life.”
The laptop chimed. Damon took the call.
Commander Dawson filled the display. Calm face, busy HQ behind him. Analysts, maps, movement.
“Seok. Dr. Prieto.” Dawson’s gaze landed on me. “Mr. Lennox.”
I folded my arms. Didn’t answer to the name.
“Update, sir?”
“We tracked the SUV to three possibles. All dead ends.”
A knot pulled tight. “Dead ends how?”
“The SUV was left in a garage near the central station. We flagged every vehicle that left within the hour. Three stood out: a delivery van, a taxi, a private sedan.”
“And?” Mattie leaned forward.
“The van belongs to a bakery with no ties to Oblivion. The taxi driver checks out. The sedan’s registered to a retired schoolteacher visiting her sister in the hospital.”
“You’re telling me pros couldn’t manage basic surveillance?”
“Dresner’s people are good. They know our cameras. They kept off them.”
“So we’re empty-handed.”
“Not empty-handed. We narrowed the field.”
Something snapped. My fist hit the drywall beside the display. The surface cracked.
Damon moved fast, forearm across my chest, pinning me to the barrier. His other hand bent my wrist. Clean hold. Firm, not crippling. He knew what he was doing.
“Stand down.”
I tested his grip. Solid.
“Enough!” Mattie’s voice cut through. “Both of you.”
We froze for a beat. Damon stepped back, smooth, controlled.
“This isn’t helping Selina.” Mattie’s focus stayed on me. “We work together, or we make it worse.”
I flexed my fingers. Split skin stung.
“What about pulling some people off the raids? Half on documents, half on Selina.”
“Not possible,” Dawson and Damon responded together.
“The warehouses are priority. They could open Oblivion’s European network.”
“And Selina becomes collateral.”
Something flickered in Dawson’s face. Regret, maybe. “I’m sorry. We have to make calls.”
“Easy to say when it’s not your person.”
His expression cooled. “Easier than you think, Mr. Lennox. This isn’t my first hard call.”
He ended the connection. Silence settled.
Mattie came closer. “Let me see your hand.”
I hesitated, then held it out.
“You won’t find her by wrecking yourself.”
“I won’t find her if SENTINEL keeps chasing files.”
Damon stayed back, watching. His stance was still keyed up. His attention lingered on Mattie even as he tracked me.
“You might be right. But Dawson’s orders stand.”
“Then what’s the point?” A tender spot throbbed as Mattie examined it.
“Sometimes you play by the rules. Until you find a way to break them that works.”
Our gazes met. Something like understanding moved through the space between us.
Mattie guided me to a metal stool, grabbed supplies. Antiseptic cut through the stale room.
“This will sting.”
I nodded. The bleeding had stopped, but dried blood ringed the cuts. Sloppy. Emotion over training. Dresner would’ve called it a failure.
“It’s fine.” The alcohol barely registered against my knuckles. Physical pain’s easy.
Radio chatter bled in from the teams. Coordinates, checks, timings. The raids would go on without me.
“You’re taking this personally.” Not a question.
I huffed. “Wouldn’t you?”
She glanced up. Met my gaze. “Yes. But I’m not a conditioned operative who’s supposed to box it all up.”
Static from the radios. More checks. Less time.
“I’m responsible for her.” The admission escaped before I could swallow it.
Mattie paused, then kept working. “Because of training? Or something else?”
Damon shifted a fraction, attention sharpening.
“Does it matter?”
“It might to Selina. And to you.”
I didn’t answer. I didn’t need to. She saw enough.
“You care about her.” Soft statement.
“I don’t have the luxury of feelings.” Automatic response.
She gave a small smile. “And yet you’re punching walls because we’re not fast enough.”
Damon pushed off from his position. “Team Alpha’s moving on the eastern warehouse. Beta goes to the western in twenty.”
“And Selina?” My newly wrapped fingers flexed.
“Limited personnel. Most are on the raids.”
“You mean they got re-tasked.”
“It’s not that simple. Oblivion’s comms are a maze. Burners, shifting encryption, dead drops. Even with our best tech and a full team, we’re guessing.”
The words hung there. I knew what they meant for her.
The secure terminal chimed. Damon keyed in his code. Dawson again, now in a private office, lights low.
“Yes, Commander. What do you need?”
“I’ve been thinking about contingencies for Dr. Crawford. I’ve got an idea. It’s risky.”
“I’m listening.” I moved closer.
“CuraNova Biotech. Mean anything?”
I dug through stripped memories. “Alzheimer’s research. European pharma.”
“Oblivion’s clean front. Perfect cover. Who questions a company working on a cure? Headquarters in Geneva. Dresner runs his legitimate business there. I’d bet some of the dirty work too.”
Damon crossed his arms. “What’s the move, sir?”
“A gambit. Specter slips into CuraNova. Gets caught in a secure area. Looks like he’s hunting Selina in a panic.”
“If they ID you, Dresner hears about it right away.”
“That’s suicide. They’ll kill him.”
“Not if they still need him. I think Dresner wants to stop ‘asset corruption.’ Another reason he took Selina.”
Use me as bait. Draw him in. Hope it leads to her.
“He’s right. Without more intel, it’s the only play.”
Lightning flashed outside, a stutter of light across the surfaces.
“I can get you a flight to Geneva, Lennox. After that, you’re on your own.”
Insane. Walk into their house with no backup, no exit plan, no guarantee it would lead to Selina.
“If I’m going in, I need everything on the building.”
Damon lifted a brow. “You’re actually thinking about this?”
“Not thinking about it. Doing it.”
“It’s one-way.”
“If that’s what it takes.”
He studied me. Something shifted in his expression. “You really do care about her.”
“And you wouldn’t do the same for Mattie?”
A muscle ticked in his jaw.
“I’ll upload schematics and security protocols. We don’t have much, but it’s something.”
My attention slid to the tactical map, then to Selina’s photo on a monitor. Her gaze held steady in the image. Like a dare.
The mission comes first. That’s what Oblivion carved into me. Specter believed it. But sometimes the mission changes. Sometimes the mission is a person.
I straightened. “I’ll be on the plane in an hour.”