Rain streaked the café windows like someone had dragged a wet brush across glass. Arthur sat alone at a corner table, the kind of spot chosen by people who didn’t want to be seen yet needed to watch everything. A man slipped into the seat opposite him—hood up, eyes darting, hands trembling the moment they rested on the table. Arthur didn’t move, didn’t blink. His calm was a net, and right now the man looked like someone tangled in too many knots to breathe.
“They’ll destroy me if they find out,” the man whispered. His voice shook more than his hands. “You don’t know what it’s like inside Hughes Corp right now. They’re… cleaning house.”
Arthur leaned forward slightly. “Then give me something that justifies the risk you took coming here.”
A flash of fear crossed the man’s face. But he pul
