Page 139 of Fractured Allegiance
Cipher: Alright. Send the number. Give me an hour. Maybe more. I'll have to be careful.
I type out the phone number and hit send.
Wraith: Thanks.
Cipher: Don't thank me yet. And be ready—if this traces somewhere bad, you need to have a plan.
Wraith: I will.
The screen shows "Message delivered," then after a moment, both messages fade and disappear. Auto-delete. No trace, no records.
An hour and twenty minutes later, the app pings.
I open it immediately.
Cipher: You there?
Wraith: Yeah. What did you find?
Cipher: Give me a sec. Still pulling the last piece.
I wait, staring at the screen.
Three dots appear. Disappear. Appear again.
Cipher: Ok. Got it. You're not going to like this.
Wraith: Tell me.
Cipher: The number traces back to a SIM registered through federal procurement. Bulk purchase. Six months ago.
My stomach drops.
Wraith: Bureau?
Cipher: Yeah. Task force purchase. But here's the problem—the order is flagged. Restricted access. I can see that it exists, but I can't see the full details without triggering an audit.
Wraith: So someone internal bought that phone.
Cipher: Exactly. And they buried it deep.
Wraith: Can you get a name?
Cipher: Working on it. Hold on.
The dots appear and disappear for nearly five minutes. I sit there, pulse steady but mind racing.
Finally:
Cipher: Called in a favor with someone in procurement. Told them I was doing a routine asset audit. They pulled the original order.
Wraith: And?
Cipher: The purchase was signed off by an agent who's supposed to be dead.
I go cold.
Wraith: Who?
