Page 97 of Fractured Loyalties
She sighs. “Fine. I was. The second I saw the name.”
“Who flagged him?”
“An informant out of Athens. Recognized the walk, out of all things. Confirmed later by a biometric signature pulled from a public terminal in Marseille.”
“He’s getting sloppy.”
“Or he wants to be found.”
That sticks.
“You think it’s bait?” I ask.
“I think he knows your name’s still on the file.”
I nod once, even though she can’t see it. “Pull what we have from Marseille. Traffic patterns, camera loops, anything that moved within twenty meters of the terminal in the hour before and after.”
“And the asset?”
“I’ll handle it. Personally.”
There’s a pause.
“Are you sure you’re ready for that?”
“I’m not letting him use my old tech to vanish again. I know how he thinks.”
“Which is exactly why this might be personal.”
“It is.”
Lydia doesn’t argue.
“Fine. I’ll keep the grid open. Call if anything shifts.”
I click off and breathe in through my nose.
Anton Vale is alive.
And if he’s using my work to ghost through the world again, I’m going to make damn sure he regrets ever crawling back into the light.
Behind me, the bedroom door clicks open softly. Mara appears in the doorway, one of my hoodies thrown over her frame, her sleep-creased shirt beneath. Barefoot. Eyes unreadable.
“You’re going out?” she asks.
“Not yet.”
She steps into the hallway. “Was that Lydia again?”
“Yeah.”
“You look like you’re already leaning toward something.”
“I have.”
She crosses her arms. “Are you going to tell me, or am I supposed to pretend again that this part of your life doesn’t exist?”
My mouth tightens.
