Olivia's POV
The hum of the underground safehouse was a constant reminder of the life we now led—hidden, strategic, and always on edge. The walls, lined with maps, photographs, and scribbled notes, bore witness to our relentless pursuit of justice. Vince stood at the center, his gaze fixed on the board as he circled the next name with red chalk.
"So the first phase was about retrieving the records from Anika's lab," he began, his voice steady. "Now comes the second target. Halden."
Chief Gregory Halden. The name alone sent a chill down my spine. A man revered in public, yet deeply entwined in the shadows of Project ECHO. His influence had shielded the project for years, silencing voices and burying truths.
"Police Chief Halden is one of Jonathan's earliest supporters," Vince continued. "He's kept investigations off their backs for over a decade. Buried reports, silenced whistleblowers. He even sent officers to track down defectors."
I leaned against the cold concrete wall, arms crossed, trying to steady the storm within me. "So what are we doing? Exposing him?"
"Not yet," Vince replied. "We don't have enough to bring the whole system crashing down. If we do it now, they'll close ranks before we're ready. We need to control him. Trap him where we can keep watch."
Sebastian, ever the strategist, leaned over the table, his knuckles white as he gripped the edge. "Then we blackmail him."
"Exactly." Vince's eyes met ours, a glint of determination shining through. "And I have just the thing to start."
He produced an old flash drive, its metal casing worn from years of handling. Luke took it, plugging it into the screen mounted on the wall. The video that played was grainy, the audio faint, but the content was unmistakable.
"This one's from a confidential source," Vince explained. "Halden threatening a junior officer who tried to report an unmarked van transporting kids. Told her if she talked, she'd end up in a ditch. And there are more like her."
The screen displayed Halden, his face contorted in anger, jabbing a finger at the young officer. "You say one word, I swear to God, you'll disappear before morning."
"This is the kind of thing the world turns a blind eye to," Vince muttered. "Unless you show it to them in full color, with names. Faces. Sound."
"So we leak it?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.
Vince shook his head. "Not yet. We need leverage first. Something fresh. Something he can't deny."
Sebastian straightened, his mind already racing. "We plant bugs. Get him to talk."
Luke tapped a few keys on his tablet, bringing up the police department's blueprint. "There's a supply closet behind his office—barely used, but thin walls. If we can sneak in, we can get everything."
"I'll go," Sebastian volunteered.
"No," I interjected, stepping forward. "We go."
Vince looked between us, concern evident in his eyes. "You two sure? You'll be walking into a building crawling with uniforms who'd gladly hand you over to Jonathan."
I met his gaze, unwavering. "We'll wear wigs, change our clothes, whatever it takes. But if we don't do this, Halden stays free to bury every truth we find."
Luke highlighted a section on the blueprint. "There's a loading dock with a blind spot. I can loop the camera feed for six minutes. That's your window to get in and out."
Sebastian nodded. "That's all we need."
hours later, the cold wind outside the police department bit into my skin, but my nerves kept me warm. We were crouched behind a van in the rain, dressed in dull grey coveralls that clung to our skin and itchy ID badges that marked us as 'authorized maintenance.' Funny how the right costume can fool a whole system built on lies.
"Olivia," Sebastian whispered next to me. The cigarette between his fingers was long gone now, crushed under his boot minutes ago, but the scent lingered. "You okay?"
I looked at him. His jaw was tight, hair damp and curling at the edges from the rain. He looked tired. Determined. Haunted.
"No," I said honestly. "But let's do it anyway."
We nodded to Vince, who leaned around the van, checking the front entrance one more time. Luke's voice crackled in our ears.
"You're clear. You've got six minutes before the next patrol loop. Go."
We follow the instructions
The side entrance gave under Vince's card swipe. I stepped in last, sealing the door behind us with a soft click. The hallway was dim, sterile, and quiet—My heart pounded so hard I felt it in my teeth.
Luke's voice returned, low but focused. "Camera loop active. You're invisible for now."
We threaded through the building like shadows, skirting blind corners, ducking past open doorways. Sebastian kept glancing over his shoulder, always between me and any threat, and even though we were side by side, I felt how fiercely he carried the burden of protecting me.
The closer we got to Halden's office, the tighter my chest became.
He's not just part of this. He's one of the reasons those kids never made it out. He's the reason people like Maya are dead. Like my parents tried to make me...
We reached the narrow janitor's closet behind Halden's office. The air inside was warm and dusty. Vince stayed outside to stand watch. I slipped in with Sebastian, who was already crouched near the vent that connected to the back wall of the chief's office.
I held the flashlight steady, knuckles white.
Sebastian pulled a tiny black device from his coat and began unscrewing the vent. The soft screech of metal-on-metal made me flinch. My breath hitched as Halden's voice drifted through the duct:
"—I don't care if they're missing. If they come back, they'll be buried under paperwork for the next ten years. We made a deal. I'm holding my end. Jonathan better hold his."
I froze.
Hearing it on a file was one thing. Reading it in Vince's stolen documents was awful enough. But hearing it from someone's mouth—the cold truth, unfiltered—was something else entirely. I glanced at Sebastian, and I knew he felt it too. That burning in the chest. The anger. The ache.
Sebastian carefully positioned the bug and pressed a switch. A tiny green light blinked once, then vanished.
Halden kept speaking, his voice low and disgusting.
"You think I don't know what they're doing with those kids? What he's building? I'm not stupid. But I'm not getting caught in that fire."
Luke's voice buzzed. "Three minutes."
Sebastian gave a final twist to secure the vent and nodded.
We turned and stopped. because we heard the Footsteps.
Someone was coming. I can hear the sound of my heartbeat and I am sure seb can also hear the same
Sebastian grabbed my hand and yanked me behind a shelf filled with cleaning supplies. I squeezed myself into the shadows, barely daring to breathe. A moment later, an officer passed the open door, whistling off-key, completely unaware.
I didn't realize I was gripping Sebastian's hand so tightly until he squeezed back gently.
"One minute," Luke warned.
We moved fast, retracing our steps through the twisting hallways. Every sound, every flickering light overhead felt louder than it should've been. The panic in my gut clawed at my throat, but I forced myself forward.
We reached the exit and slipped outside just as the patrol car rounded the front corner.
We exited the building the same way we entered, the cool night air hitting us like a wave. Stripping off our coveralls, we disappeared into the shadows, our mission accomplished.
After running from there, we sat in the hall in the safe house Laptop was in front of us
Vince pressed play.
Halden's voice cracked through the silence like thunder.
"I'm not getting caught in that fire. You think I don't know what Patterson's building? I've kept the department quiet for years. I buried reports, discredited witnesses—hell, I ruined careers to keep his name clean. So don't tell me I haven't done my part."
My stomach turned.
Each word, calm and cruel, confirmed what we already knew. But hearing it aloud from his mouth, after everything… it scraped something raw inside me. It made the lies feel like acid under my skin.
Luke dimmed the lights further, then layered in the second clip—an older, grainier recording from the archives Vince had dug up.
"If you say one more word about what you saw at the youth center, I'll make sure you don't work in this state again. I'll erase you."
Halden's voice again. Same tone. Same godlike arrogance.
Sebastian stood beside the table, one hand braced on the edge, veins taut under his skin. His eyes didn't blink. Didn't move.
Vince muttered, "There it is. That's our knife."
I stared at the screen, bile rising in my throat. "Send it anonymously. But write it like a death sentence."
Sebastian stepped closer, speaking low. "Make it bleed, Luke."
Luke sent the encrypted message to Halden's office—a video of him threatening the officer, combined with the new recording.
Luke typed aloud as he wrote:
Message:
We know who you serve. We know what you've done. Stay quiet. Or the world sees everything.
Luke hit send.
Silence followed.
Not a breath.
Then Vince muttered, "He's going to piss himself."
Third POV
The office was dim. One lamp lit, Police Chief Halden sat in a sweat-drenched shirt. His laptop glowed like a funeral pyre. The footage was on repeat.
His own voice filled the room like a ghost:
"I buried reports... discredited witnesses... I ruined careers..."
He slammed the lid shut, his face pale. He knew exactly what this meant.
No call to Jonathan. No denial. Just fear.
He opened his desk drawer, pulled out a bottle, and drank like it might wipe the fear from his body.
Olivia's POV
After sending the voice recording. We were seated near the board where Vince explained all the connections with Jonathan. I stared at the board. One more red X was slashed across a face.
"One more down," Vince said. But there was no victory in his voice. Just grim momentum.
Sebastian leaned forward, fists clenched on the edge of the table. His expression didn't shift, but his whole body vibrated with restrained fury.
I touched his arm gently. "He won't speak."
"No," Vince said, eyes locked on the board. "He'll be too scared to breathe. That's how you control men like Halden. Fear. Not law. Not truth. Fear."
I looked at the center of the board.
Jonathan Patterson.
Red strings from every X led back to him. Like arteries to a diseased heart.
"You know," I said, voice shaking but sharp, "all of this—it leads to one man. And he still thinks he's untouchable."
Vince's voice dropped to a whisper. "He built the system that protects him. We're not just fighting people. We're fighting everything he built."
Sebastian looked at me. "And we'll rip it down. One brick at a time."
I nodded. "This is working. But it's getting harder. Riskier."
He stepped closer. "That's why we finish it. Fast."
Vince traced his finger from Halden's X up toward the next target. "Next is the senator. He handles funding. Cut the money, and Patterson bleeds."
Sebastian's voice was cold steel. "Then let's make him bleed."