Secrets are not revealed in explosions.
They are revealed in layers.
Quietly.
Systematically.
And sometimes—Dr. Chloe Rain realized—deliberately placed for her to find.
The thought should have frightened her.
It did.
But not enough to make her stop.
She stood in the restricted archives room of the Behavioral Analysis Unit, the hum of old servers filling the silence around her as she accessed a secured file marked LEVEL 4 CLEARANCE REQUIRED.
Her clearance had been overridden.
Again.
Not by internal systems.
By someone else.
Someone who knew exactly how she worked.
Her pulse slowed as the file opened.
A series of redacted reports appeared on screen.
Then one name.
James Dean Luca.
Not as a suspect.
Not as a witness.
But as an informant.
Chloe leaned closer.
No.
That co
