Morning broke with a heavy storm, rain battering against the glass windows of Graze Tower as if the city itself was warning them of what was coming.
Hazel stood in the kitchen, cradling a cup of coffee, watching the storm roll in. The eerie quiet after last night's revelations hung between her and Michael like a loaded gun. He sat across from her, phone in hand, scanning reports from Connor's overnight teams.
"Any sign of him?" Hazel finally asked.
Michael shook his head, jaw tight. "He's smart. He won't move until we think we're safe."
As if summoned by the words, Connor burst into the room, water dripping from his coat, eyes sharp.
"He moved," Connor announced grimly. "Two of our accounts were hacked last night. Small amounts, barely noticeable — but it's a message."
Michael rose, all trace of weariness gone. "How?"
Connor hesitated. "Through someone on the inside."
Hazel's stomach dropped.
"Who?"
Connor's face hardened. "We're still tracing it, but… it looks like Ava."
Hazel's eyes widened. Ava — her personal assistant, the girl who'd brought her coffee and confided about her dates, the one she'd trusted.
"No," Hazel whispered, shaking her head. "She wouldn't. Not Ava."
Connor slid a file across the table. Photos, timestamps, security logs. The evidence was undeniable.
"She was working for Liam," Connor confirmed. "We intercepted a message sent to him an hour ago from her phone."
Michael's face darkened. "Where is she?"
"She's gone. Slipped out around dawn."
Hazel's hands trembled around her coffee cup.
"I trusted her."
Michael crossed the room, pulling Hazel into his arms.
"This isn't your fault," he murmured. "Crowe knows how to get in close. It's what he does."
Hazel swallowed down the sting of betrayal and met his gaze. "Then we find her. And him."
Connor nodded. "Already on it. But boss — there's more. She left something behind."
He placed a small envelope on the table, Hazel's name scrawled across it in neat, familiar handwriting.
Michael opened it, pulling out a single polaroid. The image made Hazel's blood run cold.
It was of her, sitting on a park bench last week — laughing, oblivious — with Liam Crowe standing in the distance, half-hidden behind a tree, watching her.
He'd been this close. And none of them had noticed.
Hazel's heart pounded. "He's not just coming for you," she said, voice trembling. "He's coming for me."
Michael's expression turned lethal. "Then we end this now."
Hazel grabbed his hand, steel in her voice. "No more hiding. No more waiting for him to strike."
Connor nodded. "We found an old property under his alias. Abandoned club down in Greystone Alley. It's a long shot, but it might be his base."
Michael's eyes glinted. "Then we pay him a visit."
Hazel straightened her shoulders. "Together."
And for the first time, the hunted were about to become the hunters...