The mistake wasn't trusting the past.
It was trusting the present.
The warning came disguised as routine.
A security briefing. Morning light. Coffee steaming on the table. Everyone accounted for.
Everyone except one.
Naya stood at the head of the room, tablet in hand, posture sharp. Kairo leaned against the counter, arms crossed, listening. The estate felt calm but calm was often a lie.
"We change extraction routes," Naya said. "Effective immediately. Someone's feeding movement data."
A murmur rippled through the team.
Kairo's head of security—Leon Hale—laughed softly. "That's a big accusation."
Naya's eyes locked on him. "It's a precise one."
Leon had been with Kairo for years. Ex–law enforcement. Clean record. Trusted.
Too trusted.
Kairo frowned. "Leon's solid."
"That's why he's dangerous," Naya replied.
Leon raised his hands. "Easy. We're all on edge."
Naya tapped the screen. Satellite images shifted. "This drone footage was encrypted at military-grade level. The only access point was this room."
Silence fell.
Leon's smile didn't fade but his eyes did.
"You're saying one of us is ex–special ops?" he asked.
"No," Naya said calmly. "I'm saying one of you is being paid by someone who knows my old unit."
The room exploded into chaos.
Gunfire shattered glass.
Leon moved fast too fast for a man his age. He grabbed Kairo, dragging him backward as shots rang out from outside the estate.
Naya reacted on instinct shooting the cable from Leon's earpiece mid-motion.
"MOVE!" she shouted.
Kairo broke free, slamming Leon into the table. The man grunted, staggering but he was smiling now.
"You should've stayed dead, Ash," Leon sneered.
The name froze her blood.
"You were never meant to walk away," he continued. "Neither was he."
The walls shook as an explosion rocked the far wing.
This wasn't a hit.
It was an extraction.
Naya fired again Leon dropped, but not before hitting a button on his watch.
A countdown started.
Kairo grabbed her hand. "What did he trigger?"
Her voice was tight. "A kill-switch. Files. Names."
Behind them, flames swallowed documents in the extreme end of the room.
Outside, helicopters cut through the sky.
As they reached the escape tunnel, Naya stopped.
"He wasn't just selling intel," she said. "He was hired to test me."
Kairo stared at her. "Test you for what?"
She swallowed.
"To see if I'd choose the mission," she said, voice breaking, "or you.