Page 167 of Fractured Allegiance

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She’s been taken.

I tell myself to stay calm.

I fail.

I open the glove box, retrieve the other phone, the one Naomi gave me to use when everything goes sideways.

I stare at the screen.

Then throw it back into the compartment and slam it shut.

Naomi’s not giving me backup.

Not for this.

I need another route.

Another ally.

Another move.

I pull into traffic with my jaw locked and my foot pressing hard enough on the gas to make the tires protest.

If Lydia’s gone, it’s not a punishment.

It’s a warning.

I stare at the blank screen where the SUV disappeared.

Drazen made her wait. Sent Dom to pick her up.

Then scrubbed the footage so no one could track where they went.

Why?

I run through the possibilities.

Option one: Maybe they're taking her somewhere safe. This is probably a protection detail. Maybe someone threatened her, and Drazen's moving her off the grid.

Option two: They think she's compromised. Maybe this is about the leak, the one Drazen mentioned, showed me the files someone has been leaking to the feds, but I know that’s me.

My chest tightens.

He didn't say who at the time, but he was watching everyone closer. Paranoid. Testing loyalties.

What if he suspects her?

What if someone planted evidence to make it look like she's the leak?

Or what if—

I stop that thought before it finishes.

No. She didn't betray him. I know her. She's careful. Too careful.

But Drazen doesn't trust anyone. Not fully. And if someone whispered the right lie in his ear, if they made her look guilty...

He wouldn't kill her. Not right away.

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