Page 76 of Covert Temptation

But how? The government checked every single detail of their hires.

“Fuck,”he whispered.

He rocked back in his seat, the chair creaking, his mind spinning.

What the hell was he supposed to do with this information? The thing they all suspected—that Kennedy was withholdingsomethingfrom them—was true.

All the trust he felt moments before wobbled. He felt like he stood on a precipice and uncertainty made him waver.

His phone was already in his hand, and Con’s low, grumbled voice filled his ear.

“She lied, Con.” His voice threatened to break, but he held it steady.

“You’re fucking kidding me. We just agreed she didn’t.”

“There’s a file,” he choked out. “With a background she didn’t include on her application. If she withheld this, what else is she keeping from us?”

“Where did the file come from?”

“I set up a search on one of the photos from her cloud of her and Alyssa. It didn’t pull anything immediately, but it just popped up with a hit. She was a dancer in college.”

“Hell. Anyone would want to bury that, Dante. It doesn’t mean she’s responsible for the attacks.”

“It came as an encrypted file. The hit was found on the dark web, Con. It didn’t come from a buried registry or old club server. This was planted, like bait—specifically where the right photo match could pick it up. Someone wanted me to find it.”

A beat of silence followed. Then Con let out a huff. “Who do you think dropped it?”

“I think whoever put that spyware on her phone sent the photo. They want us to know.”

“You think it’s Cipher.” The statement hung in the silence throbbing between Dante and his commanding officer.

“I do,” Dante said carefully. “I’ve suspected for a while that there was a link between him and Kennedy. Now I know it.”

And it was breaking him.

Con’s voice came into his ear again, more insistent this time. “We know Cipher doesn’t do anything without a reason. Why now? Why get the photo to you?”

Dante closed his eyes. “Because he knows I’ll turn this in. I’m clean. Always have been. I’m a good soldier who follows the damn rules.”

“And Cipher knows that.” Con’s tone was resigned.

As if he believed it too.

God, Dante did not want it to be.

He stood, walked to the window, tried to ground himself in the cold silence. “Maybe I would’ve turned her in…before. But now?Fuck.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I just told you.”

“No,” Con said quietly. “You stated facts. What doyouwant to do?”

“I don’t know. I need more information before I decide anything.”

“Not everything is black and white, Dante. You need to get her side of the story. Find the link between them.”

The thought of Kennedy—his sweet, soft Kennedy—involved with a terrorist responsible for killing hundreds of people tarnished everything Dante believed in.

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