Page 123 of In the Dark of the Past

“Grant,” River said.

“Yup,” he confirmed. “But he doesn’t move. He directs. He has people for every layer…enforcement, logistics, information.” He swallowed. “Someone inside your department has been feeding him in real time. Someone who knew when you left for Stonybrooke.”

“We know,” I said. “Jordyn told us it was more than just her. We just don’t have a name.”

“I do.”

It was like everyone in the room took a collective breath.

“I worked logistics for two years,” Evan said. “I never saw faces, but I heard names. And since I’ve been gone, I’ve kept abreast of things. Call it self-preservation. Three months ago, I heard the name of Grant’s station contact.” He looked at me directly. “It’s Deputy Terrence Cole. He transferred in fourteen months ago.”

The name landed. Atlas’s expression didn’t change but his eyes sharpened. I filed it away, too. Cole, fourteen months, transfer origin to check later.

“Why are you here tonight?” River asked. She was using her clinical voice, the gentle one that seemed easy but was precise enough to cut right to the chase.

Evan’s gaze locked onto hers. “Because they activated a core member tonight. And the target isn’t Finn. It’s you,” he said. “They want you gone before sunrise. Before the things at the AG are in place.”

I snapped taut like a wire whipped into tension. “Over my dead body.”

Evan flinched. “That’s the thing,” he whispered. “I think they’re counting on that.”

The words sucker-punched the room.

Atlas straightened. “Who’s the core member moving tonight?”

Evan’s fingers clenched the chair until his knuckles went white.

“It’s someone I was close to,” he said. “The person who recruited me, and the one person I never thought would hurt me.” His voice cracked on the last word. Cracked and held. “He was there. I saw him. They made us—” He stopped, breathed. “They made us bury her.”

River’s hand found the back of my wrist. Not gripping, just there.

Something hit me. I looked around.

“Where is Rand?” I asked.

A small silence, then, “He stepped out a few minutes ago to take a call,” Libby said. “He hasn’t come back. Why?”

Something cold moved through my chest. “How much does he know about the MR-7 transfer financials?” I asked Myra.

“Everything I found,” she said. “We were working together.” Her face had gone very still. “He knew the four unidentified entities. He was the one who suggested we look at the contractor records.”

“He directed the search,” Atlas said flatly.

“Yes,” Myra said.

The pieces arranged themselves. I watched them stack themselves in Myra’s expression, too. It was the same sequence, two seconds behind me, ending at the same place.

“He didn’t step out to take a call,” River said quietly.

“No,” I said. “He didn’t. Fuck.”

Libby’s voice was barely audible. “He was feeding the search. Steering what we found and what we didn’t.” She pressed a hand flat to the desk. “He’s been inside our circle this whole fucking time.”

Autumn froze mid-note, then crossed out a name in her notebook with enough force to tear the page.

Nivea covered her mouth.

River’s expression didn’t show fear, just betrayal, the deep, cutting kind that came from trust being used as a weapon.