Chapter 68

**Emilia POV**

My phone buzzes, drawing my attention away from my compromised workstation. I glance at the device, noting the message that had just arrived. Calum sent a location and clear instructions to come alone and keep my phone on me. I swiftly shut down my workstation, locking out any further intrusions. I secure my immediate environment, taking my phone, I survey my surroundings before I advance to the exit—blood pounding, a fast thrum in my veins as if I’m committing an act of treason. It isn’t. Not yet, but in adherence to protocols, I’m obligated to tell my superiors. However, if I do, I could lose trust and I don’t even have anything actionable yet.

“Where you going, 007?” Agent Stonewall impedes my path. “I thought you more than anyone would be out hunting down a lead to prove your girl’s innocence.”

“That’s exactly what I’m doing,” I say firmly. “Not that I have to answer you.”

I move to knock into his shoulder, but once I pass him, he grips my bicep to yank me to him.

“Joint taskforce,” he emphasizes with clamped teeth. “We showed you ours and you will show us yours.”

“Well, that doesn’t sound violating at all.” A male analyst stands to his feet. “A classified appraisal,” he says, poking the point of his glasses to nudge it up his nose. “Bunch of paperwork on the massacre at the villa. The higher ups wanted an in-house report, so I sent her to do the menial work, since so far this woman’s job is cleaning up the messes of men.”

I look at Stonewall then my eyes motion to his hold. He releases me roughly and I share a smile with the analyst before I leave the building. The moment I get in my car, the GPS app opens up remotely and a route is inputted for me. I follow the destination to the inner hub of the city. When I’m close enough, I lock and leave my car on the kerbside. Leaving the high-security confines of the CIA facility—a Berlin base. I blend seamlessly into the bustling city streets. My senses soar to its apex, alert to any potential threats and surveillance. I make my way to the park, a sprawling green space teeming with people enjoying their day.

I pass smiles with amiable strangers, my eyes darting to every face in my field of view.

I plop down on a park bench, scouring the masses, watching for anyone watching me. I sit there for a good half an hour before I fish out my phone out of sheer irritation.
Another notification pings on my screen the moment I do. He is watching me. My eyes flick up to do a thorough scan of those in range and then my gaze lifts to the scape of skyscrapers surrounding the stretch of green. The message is another set of instructions to sit at a specific bistro, five minutes away from the park and wait for further instructions.

I mutter a profanity but I comply, just then another message slides in.

**You’re so cute when you’re mad.**

My eyes fly up from the screen to see elderly couples, runners, dogs and kids with parents that stand idle nearby. I move on. At the designated bistro, I find a discreet table in the corner and I take a seat at the upholstered blue booth. My phone remains in my hand, ready for the next set of instructions. My eyes scan the crowd, my mind calculating possible scenarios and exit strategies. A thought ambushes me from nowhere. We have no proof that Calum is in either Santos or Orian’s custody, but it doesn’t mean that he isn’t. The weight of the situation settles over me knowing that the next steps can lead to critical intelligence—or a dangerous trap. I wait, poised and ready for either.

“Ma’am.”

I nearly jump out of my skin. A waitress inquires about my order and I just ask for a simple cappuccino. I pay her forward, not knowing the moment I’ll have to spring out of here. When my beverage does come, she returns to me with a smartphone in her hand and a relieved smile.

“Here you are.”

She places it down on the surface.

“And this is?”

“Oh, your boyfriend called the manager’s office, and said that you would be picking up his phone that he lost. And he was right, luckily, his phone was in the lost-and-found compartment.”

“My boyfriend?” I say breathlessly, nodding too much. “He can literally be so forgetful sometimes.”

I swipe the phone before I take a liberal sip of the cappuccino before I leave.

“Calum,” I whisper furiously into the phone. “Stop sending me on this wild side quest, if you’re trying to make sure I’m not being tailed. I’m not. No reinforcements, no wires, no surveillance. Just my life in yours and yours in mine and I promise you. There’s no threat on my side.”

**The only person I trust was taken from me. Again.**

“I reached out, remember. I know something dreadful was imminent—it was inevitable because both Orian and Santos were involved. Just one of them is a catastrophe. Both are nuclear cataclysm.”

The GPS opens up again. I follow it blindly and eventually I approach the imposing facade of a high-tech office building, its sleek glass exterior reflecting the city’s vibrant skyline. As I near the main entrance, I glance at my phone fretfully. I pause momentarily, my eyes scanning the security cameras and biometric scanners that guard the entryway. With a faint buzz, the front doors glide open, and I step into the pristine lobby.

The ground floor is a marvel of modern design, with polished marble floors and minimalist decor. Security personnel are stationed strategically, their eyes trained on the constant flow of employees and visitors. I slip in smoothly, flowing with the tide of techies. My phone pings softly, telling me where to go in the building.

I approach the first checkpoint that requires a retinal scanner and keycard access, aghast at the momentary flutter of tension. But just as I reach it, the scanner’s lights flicker and turn green, granting me access without me doing a thing. I walk through, my expression betraying no sign of the covert assistance I am receiving. So natural, so purposeful, my presence inspires no curiosity or concern from security.

Each ingress I encounter on the ground floor—a series of keypads, fingerprint scanners, and locked doors—miraculously unlock before me. Calum’s hacking skills are precise and impeccable, allowing me to bypass every security measure with ease.

Navigating through the maze of high-tech corridors, I finally reach a restricted area near the back of the building. Here, the security is even tighter, with armed guards patrolling the vicinity. My phone buzzes again, signaling the final phase of Calum’s grand plan. I wait for a moment, hidden in the shadow of a structural column, until a side door clicks open. I spill through the door and I find myself in a narrow, dimly lit passageway that leads to the back entrance.
Once I exit, I see Calum leaning sluggishly against the brick wall with a slim laptop in his grasp.

“I see you’re good at taking orders,” he says with a sly smile, skin flaking from his lips, fingers brittle and his skin pallid and almost as gray as a fresh corpse.

I lift my hands to my head. “Want to search me?”

He shifts—a pinch of pain makes him bite down hard on his bottom lip. “You’re cruel to tempt me like that,” he says with a ragged laugh. “I’ll have to settle for the phones, for now. Both of them. Let’s trade.”

He does one last thing on the laptop before he closes the lid and offers it to me. I take it to tuck it under my arm before I surrender the phones. He deconstructs both phones but he ends up smashing the decoy and crushing the fragments underfoot. He shoves the parts of my disassembled phone into the pockets of his jacket.

“Can I trust you?” he asks strenuously, every breath an effort. “I want to, but I also know better.”

“Yeah?”

“Hell yeah, anyone with a badge has either disappointed or betrayed us… but I don’t have many options left.”

“Fortunately for you, I’m the only option you need.”

He turns and his back hits the brick wall. His hand slips under his top to reveal a bloody imprint on his palm. He sags and I swoop in to help keep him upright, my hand on his chest to steady him with his arm draped around my shoulders.

“You need a medic. Now.”

“No hospitals and don’t you dare snitch on me. I didn’t bring you out here for you to serve me up on a platter for your superiors.”

I push out a slow-strained groan as I try to heft him up higher. “*No*, I have something more unconventional in mind.”

“I better not wake up in some black-site.”

His head drops and he nearly takes me down with him.