Chapter 33
Jase
Location: Safehouse — War Room
The room fills fast.
Not with noise.
With tension.
Ethan is already at the main screen, fingers moving across the keyboard as layers of encryption peel back one by one.
Cal leans against the wall, arms crossed, watching everything.
Jonah and Lance stand over the table, eyes tracking the data as it builds.
Jason is on comms, running interference, making sure no one knows where we are.
Ronan stands slightly apart.
Silent.
Observing.
Always seeing more than he says.
I step up beside Ethan and place the drive down.
“This is it,” I say.
No one responds right away.
They don’t need to.
They already feel it.
“Alright,” Ethan mutters. “Let’s see what you stole.”
He plugs it in.
The screen flickers.
Then—
everything opens.
Names.
Hundreds of them.
Scrolling fast.
Connected by lines.
Accounts.
Routes.
Access points.
“Jesus…” Jonah breathes.
“It’s not just names,” Lance says quietly.
“No,” Ethan agrees.
His voice has changed.
Tighter now.
Focused.
“It’s a full network.”
I glance at Mila.
She’s standing just behind me.
Arms crossed.
Watching.
Not surprised.
“I told you,” she says.
Ethan expands one section.
A web of financial transfers spreads across the screen.
“Offshore accounts,” he says. “Layered through charities, relief organizations, shell corporations…”
“Military contractors,” Cal adds, pointing.
“Judicial ties,” Jonah says.
Jason looks up from his station.
“You’re telling me this thing touches everything?”
“Yes,” Mila answers.
Flat.
Certain.
Silence falls again.
Heavier this time.
Ronan steps forward.
Finally.
“Start isolating the highest-ranking connections,” he says.
“People with influence. Decision-makers.”
Ethan nods and shifts the filters.
The screen changes.
The room goes still.
Because now—
it’s not just names.
It’s power.
“Those are federal-level clearances,” Lance says.
“Some of these people shouldn’t even be in the same room together,” Jonah adds.
“And yet they are,” Mila says quietly.
I study the screen.
Every instinct I have screaming the same thing—
This isn’t just an operation.
This is control.
“They’re not hiding,” I say.
“No,” Ronan replies.
“They’re embedded.”
That’s worse.
Ethan zooms in further.
“Wait,” he says.
His voice sharpens.
“What is it?” I ask.
He doesn’t answer right away.
Just stares at the screen.
Then—
he turns it slightly.
So we can all see.
A name.
Highlighted.
The room goes dead silent.
Because we all recognize it.
“...That’s not possible,” Cal says.
But it is.
Because it’s right there.
Connected to everything.
Mila steps forward slowly.
Eyes locked on the screen.
“You see it now,” she says.
I don’t look away from the name.
“Yeah,” I murmur.
My voice drops.
Cold.
“I see it.”
Because this?
Just became personal.