56. Ace
Ace
“Show me.”
Blaze turns the screen.
Files scroll.
Encrypted folders. Codes. Dates.
But it’s the list that matters.
Names.
Dozens.
Maybe more.
And I recognize some of them.
That’s the problem.
Tessa steps closer beside me.
“What is it?”
Blaze zooms in.
Opens a file.
A profile appears.
Photo. Position. Connections. Money trails.
Her breath catches.
“That’s—”
She stops.
But she knows it.
Everyone would.
“They’re not random,” she says quietly.
“No,” Blaze agrees. “They’re not.”
“They’re powerful,” I say.
Because that’s what this is.
People who don’t get exposed.
People who stay hidden.
“This is leverage,” Blaze adds.
“Or a hit list,” Trigger mutters.
Either way—
It’s bad.
“This is what Cathy had?” Tessa asks.
Blaze nods.
“Looks like it.”
“And if she was moving this…”
He doesn’t finish.
Doesn’t need to.
“She was in over her head,” Tessa says.
“Or she knew exactly what she was doing,” I counter.
That lands.
Because neither option is good.
I scroll further.
More names.
More files.
Then—
Something different.
A flagged tag.
Separate.
Marked.
“What’s this?” I ask.
Blaze leans in.
Opens it.
The screen shifts.
And everything in me goes still.