Chapter 34 Ronan
Ronan
Location: Mobile Command
Time: Same
“We’ve got a leak,” I say flatly.
No one in the room looks surprised.
They should be.
Aaron’s voice cuts in immediately. “Name.”
“Working on it.”
I’m already pulling threads.
Access logs.
Warrant timelines.
Authorization chains.
Who saw what.
When.
Who touched it.
Who passed it.
Who didn’t hesitate.
The screens shift as I build the tree out—branching connections across jurisdictions, agencies, private networks.
Too clean.
Way too clean.
Then—
It hits.
“Oh no.”
“What?” Aaron snaps.
I zoom out.
Then in again.
Cross-reference.
Confirm.
“It’s not one leak,” I say.
It comes out slower now.
Colder.
“It’s three. Minimum.”
The room goes quiet.
Even the analysts stop typing.
Because they see it too now.
“A legal task force,” I continue. “Multi-national.”
I highlight the layers as I speak.
“Three countries.”
“Two intelligence agencies.”
“One private interest group—buried, but present.”
I lean back slightly, exhaling.
“They didn’t just build a case,” I say. “They built a structure.”
Aaron’s voice lowers.
“A cage.”
“Yes.”
And worse—
“They built it legally.”
Which means—
No shortcuts.
No easy extraction.
No brute force solution without consequences.
“And her mentor just walked her into it,” Aaron says.
I don’t answer right away.
Because that part?
That part is personal.
“Yes.”
Silence.
Then Aaron again.
Different tone now.
Not reactive.
Decisive.
“We’re not breaking her out.”
I nod, even though he can’t see me.
“No.”
Because if we do—
They win.
Narrative confirmed.
Villain secured.
End of story.
“We’re going to break the case,” I say.
And yeah—
That’s a much harder war.