Page 77 of Tag
Aponi’s breath caught like a punch to the gut.
“What the hell is this?” I asked.
Faron’s voice was tight. “It’s a roster. We think it’s Chimera’s recruitment archive. They’ve been targeting kids with criminal lineage, troubled backgrounds, high-risk potential. Grooming them. Or eliminating them.”
My stomach turned. They were watching me this whole time. Until I went into the foster system.
“They wanted Aponi,” Faron said, looking right at her. “And when she vanished, they didn’t forget. They’ve been watching. Waiting for a way back in.”
Aponi stared at the screen like she was seeing a ghost.
“I thought I escaped them,” she whispered. “I thought I disappeared. I remembered when they would show up at the house. Momma would tell me to run and hide. I didn’t realize who he was because I never knew his name. Momma never told me his name; she would just say the devil was coming over, and I would hide.”
“You did,” I said. “But they couldn’t let it go.”
Faron swiped to the next page. It was worse.
A chart. Lines connecting names, timelines, locations. At the center:Project Chimera. At the edges—symbols we didn’t recognize, government agency codes, and something that stopped my heart cold.
Golden Team.
Rec Center - Los Angeles.
They were targeting us.
Not just Aponi.
All of us.
“Graves wasn’t the architect,” Faron said. “He was a handler. And Chimera’s not just a trafficking ring. It’s a network. Black-market intelligence. Training camps. False identities. They’re raising assassins, spies, and leverage assets.”
Aponi closed her eyes. “And I was supposed to be one of them.”
I crouched in front of her. “But you weren’t. You chose better. Youarebetter.”
She nodded slowly, but her voice was quiet. “They’re still coming.”
Faron looked between us. “This isn’t just a rescue op anymore. It’s war. And Aponi… you may be the key.”
73
Aponi
The room was dim, lit only by the pale glow of the tablet as I sat curled on the couch, staring at my own name on that roster like it belonged to someone else.
Isabelle Hartman.
I hadn’t said that name aloud in over a decade. I’d buried her, deep.
But Chimera hadn’t forgotten.
And now they’d resurfaced with an entire map of devastation—names of missing girls, hidden codes, and a plan that went far beyond one trafficking ring. This was systemic. Organized. Weaponized.
Tag stood behind me, a hand on my shoulder, his thumb moving in slow, calming circles. He hadn’t said much since the file opened—just anchored me with his presence. It was enough. More than I ever thought I’d get.
Faron dropped into the seat across from us, rubbing a hand over his face. “We’ve got teams pulling surveillance from every camera around Bastion Point. Gideon’s cross-referencing the names from the drive. Kaylie and Gage are scraping the darkweb for any links to Chimera. But…” He exhaled. “They were ten steps ahead of us. We’re still playing catch-up.”
“Then we stop playing,” I said, lifting my gaze. “We hit them first.”
