Page 61 of Make Them Cry
My mind reels about the way Gage has touched me. Kissed me. Mask… Gage. It’s all so confusing in my head.
It’s him. I know it is, and suddenly I feel shy. So, very,veryshy. Why Gage? Why now? I always thought he hated me.
I hesitate, then ask, “Will you just hold me?” It’s a big ask, and I half-expect him to laugh off my request. He doesn’t know that I know.
Instead, he holds out his arm and I scoot closer. He wraps me into his chest, and I hear his heartbeat—Mask’s heartbeat—thumping against my ear. It steadies me. Like a war drum beating out in tempo with mine.
I want to tell him I know. I want to say something, but I can’t. Instead, I rest my head against his chest, and let his arm wrap around my shoulders, and think about the way he touched me last night.
I don’t want to ruin his plan by voicing that I know he’s Mask. But, Idoknow.
TWENTY
GAGE
I know the second the scan finishes.
Knight doesn’t say anything at first. Just stares at the line of code and leans back, slow and stiff, like he’s afraid if he moves too fast, the truth might get worse.
“Say it,” I murmur.
He doesn’t look at me. “You’re not gonna like it.”
“I already don’t.”
Arrow spins his chair around from the second terminal, brow furrowed. “It’s confirmed. The payload originated from an internal HR workstation. Logged in under user ID…” He trails off, then says it anyway. “TashWills_24.”
Tasha.
River’s best friend.
The same Tasha who brought River cupcakes on her birthday. The same Tasha who told her,You’re too good for NovaPlay.
The same Tasha who just this week stood at her desk like nothing was wrong.
I feel like I’ve been punched.
“She was there the day River reported Mason,” I say aloud.
Knight nods grimly. “She was the one who submitted the formal paperwork for HR to open the file. Her workstation has access to the complaint logs, security badge swipe data, and all internal backup servers—including the private user drive River thought was secure.”
That’s how she got the therapy files.
That’s how she knew about Psalm88.
“She planted it,” I say. “She wanted River to find it.”
Arrow scrubs a hand over his face. “She’s not working alone.”
Knight turns his monitor to show us a second screen. An IP trace.
“Regent,” he says. “Top Cathedral admin. Obscures his logs better than anyone except us. But he slipped up last week. Used a NovaPlay proxy node during a forum upload. We caught the overlap.”
I grit my teeth. “Tasha’s working with him.”
Knight nods once. “We think Regent’s using her to feed Cathedral insider data. NovaPlay’s employee complaint system. Blackmail material. Anything exploitable.”
“And River was just… the perfect target,” I whisper. “She’s high profile. Visible. She made waves.”
