Page 69 of Code Name: Admiral

“They’re buying protection,” Pershing said. “At the highest levels.”

“Sarah found out.” My voice cracked. “That’s why they killed her. Not because she was investigating the Castellanos, but because she uncovered this whole network of corruption.” I shook my head. “That doesn’t make sense. Why would Alessandro order Bobby to kill her if they were essentially on the same side?”

“There are two possible explanations that are immediately obvious. First, Alessandro wasn’t ready for Sarah to expose him. Maybe he didn’t have enough evidence yet. Second, maybe Alessandro had nothing to do with Bobby killing your sister.”

“Vincent,” I said under my breath.

“Who also ordered the hit on Bobby. It was to keep him quiet.”

The implications were staggering. Alessandro had spent years meticulously building his case while maintaining his cover as a brutal enforcer. He’d documented every payoff, every compromised case, every connection between the Castellano operation and whoever was working with them on the inside. But why dangle all these clues? Why hack into my system and send me messages? Why hadn’t he just named the mole?

A new alert pinged—movement on the perimeter cameras. I switched views, my breath catching as I saw vehicles approaching.

“We’ve got company,” I said, highlighting the feed. “Multiple SUVs, no markings.”

Pershing was already on his comms. “Tank, status?”

“Three vehicles approaching from the south access road. Professional drivers, evasive patterns. Not bureau standard procedure.”

“Time to go?” I asked, already starting my shutdown sequence.

“Time to go,” Pershing confirmed. “But first—can you copy everything you’ve found?”

I smiled grimly. “Already done. Multiple secure locations, encrypted seven ways to Sunday. Even if they take these systems, they won’t find anything.”

“Good.” He helped me up from my chair. “Because I have a feeling we’re about to find out just how badly someone wants to keep all this quiet.”

I grabbed my go bag—always packed, always ready—and followed Pershing toward the door. But before we left, I turned back to my workstation one last time. My fingers flew across the keyboard, initiating one final protocol.

“What was that?” Pershing asked as we hurried down the hall.

“Insurance,” I said. “If anything happens to us, everything we’ve found goes public. Every server, every news outlet, every social media platform. They can try to bury the truth, but they can’t kill it. Not anymore.”

He squeezed my hand. “You’re amazing, you know that?”

I squeezed back. “Save the compliments for when we’re safe. Right now, we need to focus on staying alive long enough to use what we’ve found.”

As we moved through the house, I could hear Tank coordinating with the security teams, positioning people to cover our escape. But my mind was already racing ahead, planning our next moves. Sarah had died trying to expose this conspiracy. I wouldn’t let her sacrifice be in vain.

Alessandro was right about one thing—time was running out. But they’d underestimated one crucial factor: they weren’t just dealing with an FBI agent and a hacker anymore. They were facing two people who had nothing left to lose and everything to fight for.

And I’d learned from hard experience—those were the most dangerous people of all.

22

ADMIRAL

The SUVs came to a stop in a defensive triangle formation that spoke of tactical training. My first thought was bureau SWAT, but the vehicles’ positioning was too perfect—this was a higher level of operational expertise.

“Status?” I barked into my comms.

“Eight tangos deploying,” Tank reported. “Full tactical gear, encrypted comms. This isn’t bureau standard issue.”

“Hostiles?”

“Negative on ID yet, but they’re moving like tier-one operators.”

That meant Special Forces training or equivalent. Not Castellano’s usual muscle. My mind raced through the possibilities—private military contractors, black ops teams, someone with virtually unlimited resources.

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