Page 46 of The Sniper

"Suit yourself." Anton turned the laptop so they could see the screen. "So, after digging through those financial records we pulled from the auction servers, I found a pattern. Someone’s been moving money—big money—and not just through normal laundering channels. We’re talking about ghost accounts, offshore holdings, and shell corporations that don’t technically exist."

Reyna leaned forward. "Who’s behind it?"

Anton tapped a key, pulling up a ledger riddled with names. "Veda had an account. So did Titan. But here’s where it gets really interesting—Rowe had one, too."

Daniels blew out a hard breath. "So Rowe was mixed up in the auction?"

"More than mixed up. He was funding it. Not directly, but through a chain of transactions so layered even the IRS would’ve had a hard time untangling it." Anton’s fingers drummed against the table. "But here’s the kicker—he wasn’t funding it alone. He waspayingsomeone. And not just for discretion."

Reyna’s stomach tightened. "What was he paying for?"

Anton clicked another file open, a grainy bank transfer statement appearing on the screen. "For names," he said simply."And not just any names—people inside the BDSM community with enough skeletons in their closets to make them prime targets."

Mitch pushed off the wall, his jaw tightening. "Jesus."

Daniels narrowed his eyes. "He was buying information. Why?"

Anton turned the laptop back to himself, pulling up yet another document. "That’s where it gets muddy. At first, I thought it was blackmail. Standard pay-for-silence bullshit. But when I looked at the deeper transactions, it wasn’t just hush money. It was targeted." He pointed to a name on the list. "Veda wasn’t just an auctioneer—she was a broker. She had something on every single person who ever stepped foot in that auction house. And Rowe? He was paying her to access it."

Reyna groaned. "He was building a list."

Anton nodded grimly. "Yes, a list."

Daniels let that sink in for a moment before speaking. "Tell me you have something on the killer."

Anton’s smirk lacked any real amusement. "You know me. I hate to disappoint." He pulled up yet another document, this one showing a login history. "We’ve been tracking the killer’s digital footprint ever since Winkie gave us Artemis’s name. I figured she’d covered her tracks well, and for the most part, she did. But…" He tapped the screen. "She got cocky."

Reyna’s heart pounded. "Where?"

Anton’s expression darkened. "She accessed the auction’s records. Not just once. Several times. Cross-referencing names, pulling up financial records, movements. She was building a profile on her targetsbeforethey were even in the line of fire."

Daniels moved closer to the screen. "Tell me you traced the access point."

Anton grinned. "Would I call you here if I hadn’t?" He pulled up a location pin on the map. "Here. An abandoned storagefacility on the west side of the city. She’s been using it as a temporary base. Logs show she accessed the files from there less than twenty-four hours ago."

Mitch straightened. "Then she’s still in the city."

"Shewasin the city," Anton corrected. "But I’d bet my last paycheck she’s still close. She’s too meticulous to just pack up and run without covering her tracks. And if she’s still looking at these files, it means she’s not done yet."

Reyna clenched her fists. "Who’s next?"

Anton pulled up another name. "Jonas Hartley—from what I can tell, he was Veda’sotherclient. Only instead of selling people’s secrets, he was buying them to keep certain namesoutof circulation."

Daniels rubbed his temple, breathing slowly. "Which means he knows something about what’s been happening."

"Exactly," Anton said. "And Artemis isn’t going to let him live long enough to talk."

Reyna felt the familiar rush of adrenaline kick in. "Where is she now?"

Anton double-checked his screen. "Still in Chicago. She’s got a private residence downtown, but her phone just pinged off a tower near the waterfront."

Daniels nodded, already moving. "Then that’s where we go."

Mitch grabbed his coat. "Fitz, we’ll roll out in fifteen."

Anton’s grin was sharp. "Let’s go get ourselves a killer."

Reyna met Daniels’s gaze, fire burning between them. They were closing in.

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