Page 76 of Tag
She was quiet for a long time.
Then she whispered, “I think Graves knows who I am.”
I stiffened slightly. “What do you mean?”
She pulled the sheet up to her chest, eyes dark. “Not just who I am now… I think he knows who I used to be. Who I was before I became Aponi Lightfoot.”
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Aponi
Maybe he knows who my Mom is. What if he knows we hid her where no one will find her.
Tag’s jaw clenched. “He’s playing the long game.”
“And Chimera…” I said, heart pounding now. “That wasn’t just a codeword. It’s a mythological hybrid—something that pretends to be one thing, but is really many. That’s what this is. Graves may be a monster, but I don’t think he’s the one building the beast.”
I sat up in bed, wrapping the sheet around me. “We need to find out whois.”
Tag stood too, grabbing his jeans. “And we’re going to tear them down, piece by piece.”
Before I could answer, there was a knock at the door.
Faron’s voice came through. “You’re gonna want to see this.”
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Tag
Iopened the door, tension still coiled tight in my gut from Aponi’s story. They knew Aponi was a Cherokee Indian
Faron stood in the hallway, jaw locked, eyes hard. He held a folder in one hand and a tablet in the other.
“This isn’t a wake-you-up-for-no-reason situation,” he said, stepping inside without waiting for permission. “We dug deeper into the flash drive. There’s a buried file—not just encrypted, but triple-layered under AI masking. Took Gage and Kaylie both to crack it.”
It still amazed me at everything Kaylie knew, and she had more reason to hate Graves than anyone.
He handed the tablet to Aponi, who pulled the sheet tighter around her and sat on the edge of the bed.
I stood beside her, watching the screen load.
And then… there it was.
A series of photographs, names, and timelines—spanning over two decades.
Faces.
Young girls.
Dates.
Locations.
Some of them were markedacquired. Others,pending. A few—terminated.
And there, halfway down the list…
Harman, Isabelle. DOB 07/12. Status: Missing. Reclaim priority: High. Chimera Tier Two Candidate.
