56. Caleb
CALEB
Evie’s lips are still beneath mine when someone knocks on the door.
Neither of us moves.
The knock comes again.
“Caleb?” Fathom calls. “Senator Vance responded.”
Evie closes her eyes.
“I suppose ignoring him won’t make him leave.”
“No.”
“Do you want to?”
“Yes.”
A laugh trembles through her.
I touch my forehead to hers.
“This isn’t finished.”
“No.”
Her fingers curl into my shirt.
“It isn’t.”
I kiss her once more.
Short.
Soft.
A promise rather than an ending.
Then I force myself to release her.
Evie wipes the tears from her face and stands. Her knees are steadier now, but I remain close enough to catch her.
She notices.
Of course she does.
“You don’t have to hover.”
“I’m not hovering.”
“You’re standing six inches away.”
“Convenient distance.”
Her mouth curves.
We return to the evidence room together.
Senator Richard Vance appears on the isolated monitor. He’s in his late sixties, with silver threaded through his dark hair and exhaustion beneath his eyes.
He looks from Evie to Rook.
“Agent Hart.”
“Senator.”
“I was told you died in an explosion at Langley.”
“Walter Graves will be disappointed to learn otherwise.”
Vance’s expression hardens. “Graves claimed you murdered three analysts before helping Shadow Division attack a classified facility.”
Pain moves across Evie’s face.
Those analysts had names.
Families.
Lauren had children.
“Daniel Morris, Amanda Keyes, and Lauren Shaw were murdered because Graves believed they might know about his plans.”
“What plans?”
Evie places the recording beside the secure terminal.
“Your assassination.”
For the first time, Vance loses his composure.
He listens without interrupting as Graves’s voice fills the room.
Vance has been asking questions.
If he pushes, he becomes part of the story.
When the recording ends, the senator removes his glasses and rubs one hand across his face.
“How much evidence do you have?”
Rook answers. “Enough to prove Graves, Miller, Rhodes, and Grayson were involved in the West Virginia facility. Enough to expose financial transfers, assassinations, and compromised officials.”
“And enough to prove Shadow Division was framed?”
“Yes.”
Vance looks toward the evidence case.
“Send it to me.”
“No,” Rook says.
The senator’s eyes narrow.
“You contacted me because you need help.”
“We contacted you because the First Circle marked you for death. That doesn’t mean we hand over the only evidence keeping us alive.”
Vance leans back.
“What do you propose?”
Evie steps closer to the camera.
“You’ll receive three files. The recording. The assassination directive bearing your name. And satellite proof of the West Virginia facility before it collapsed.”
“Why only three?”
“If the First Circle has someone inside your office, the files will tell us.”
Vance studies her for a long moment.
“You haven’t changed, Agent Hart.”
“I have.”
“No.” Something like approval enters his eyes. “You simply stopped pretending you didn’t see what everyone else missed.”
Evie’s shoulders lower.
Only slightly.
Vance continues. “I can suspend the federal manhunt pending an emergency classified review. It won’t clear Shadow Division publicly, but it will stop tactical teams from shooting you on sight.”
“How long?” Rook asks.
“Give me six hours.”
“You have three,” Evie says. “Archive Seven activates in less than seventy-one.”
Vance’s expression changes. “What is Archive Seven?”
“We don’t know yet.”
“Then you’re going to Charleston.”
“Not until we determine whether your office is compromised,” Rook says.
The senator nods.
“Send the three files.”
The call ends.
Fathom prepares the transfer.
Mac stands at the far end of the room, listening without speaking.
His gaze remains fixed on the Second Circle ledger.
“What is it?” I ask.
“There’s another way to prove Vance is clean.”
Everyone turns toward him.
“The First Circle maintained observation files on every official it couldn’t recruit. If Vance resisted them, the archive will contain surveillance reports.”
Fathom searches the drives.
A folder opens.
VANCE, RICHARD.
Inside are photographs of the senator’s house.
His office.
His wife.
His grandchildren.
Beside the final image is an instruction.
APPLY FAMILY LEVERAGE IF SUBJECT REFUSES ACCESS DEMAND.
Cobra’s expression turns murderous.
“That’s proof,” Evie says.
“It’s also a warning,” Rook replies. “If Vance moves against Graves, his family becomes a target.”
“We protect them,” I say.
Rook looks at me.
“We can’t be in two places at once.”
“No. But we know people.”
I think of Blaze.
Wolf.
Trigger.
The people in Eagle River who mobilized before Graves’s team ever left Virginia.
Rook understands.
“I’ll make the call.”
Evie turns toward me.
“You trust them.”
“With my life.”
“And Vance’s family?”
I hold her gaze.
“Yes.”
Fathom begins transmitting the first file.
For the first time, we aren’t running.
We’re building a counterattack.