Chapter 55
Ace
Tessa’s hand hovers over the pouch.
She doesn’t move.
Not right away.
And I get it.
Because whatever’s inside that thing—
It’s the reason everything happened.
The accident.
The prison.
Daniel.
All of it.
I step closer.
Not touching.
Just there.
Grounding.
“You don’t have to rush,” I say quietly.
Her eyes flick to mine.
Searching.
Then she nods.
Slow.
Steady.
And reaches in.
She pulls it out carefully.
Like it might disappear if she moves too fast.
The pouch is worn.
Soft.
Familiar to her.
I can see it in the way she holds it.
“This is it,” she whispers.
Everyone goes still.
Trigger. Beast. Blaze.
All of us locked on that one moment.
She opens it.
Slow.
Careful.
Inside—
Cloth.
Wrapped tight.
Her hands tremble slightly as she unwraps it.
And then—
There it is.
A flash drive.
Small.
White.
With dried blood on it.
I go still.
“That’s it,” Blaze says under his breath.
Yeah.
That’s it.
The thing people killed for.
The thing she lost six years of her life over.
Tessa stares at it.
Like it doesn’t make sense.
Like something that small shouldn’t carry that much weight.
“I had it the whole time,” she whispers.
“You didn’t know,” I say.
But I see it.
The weight hitting her anyway.
“I still don’t understand what it is,” she adds.
I take a slow breath.
Focus.
“This changes everything.”
Blaze steps forward slightly. “Yeah. It does.”
He reaches out.
“Let me take a look—”
“No.”
Sharp.
Immediate.
She tightens her grip on it.
And I don’t blame her.
Not for a second.
“I want to know what’s on it,” she says.
“You will,” I tell her. “But we do it smart.”
Blaze nods. “If it’s been tracked, plugging it in blind could trigger something.”
She exhales slowly.
“Okay.”
But she still doesn’t let go.
I step closer.
Lower my voice.
“We’re not taking it from you,” I say.
Her eyes meet mine.
Softening just a little.
“We’re protecting it.”
A beat.
Then she nods.
And finally hands it to Blaze.
The second it leaves her hand—
I see it.
That shift.
Like she just let go of something bigger than she expected.
I take her hand.
Hold it.
“I’ve got you,” I say quietly.
She nods.
And I know—
She believes me.
Blaze pulls out a secure device.
Not his main system.
Smart.
He plugs the drive in.
Careful.
Controlled.
We all wait.
The screen flickers.
Files load.
Rows of them.
Encrypted.
Hidden.
Important.
“What is it?” Tessa asks.
Blaze doesn’t answer right away.
That’s not like him.
Then he looks up.
And yeah—
Something’s changed.
“This isn’t just money,” he says.
A beat.
Then—
“It’s names.”
Silence drops.
Because now—
This just got a whole lot bigger.