"Della," Ziko said.
"Possibly. Or whoever told Della to plant the original rumor." Mitch's jaw tightened. "Either way, someone's actively managing this. Not just letting it spread — managing it. That's a different kind of opponent than a single bad actor."
Ziko thought about this.
He thought about the woman who'd walked into the compound with one bag and chosen the harder door, and the cousin who'd done the same thing in a different direction — given them real intelligence with one hand and planted a knife with the other. He thought about how complicated people were, how rarely anyone was just one thing, and how that complication made fighting them so much harder than fighting a clean villain would have been.
"I want to talk to her," he said. "Della."
"She's not answering calls," Mitc
