Page 27 of The Player

“You didn’t,” Seth interrupted; his voice firm. He stepped closer, placing his hands on her shoulders, grounding her in the present. “You did what you needed to do. Now we just have to make sure we’re ready for whatever comes next.”

Hope looked up at him, searching his eyes for the reassurance she desperately needed. “And if what comes next is a trap?”

“Then we’ll deal with it,” Seth said, his voice steady. “Together. I’ve never had a better partner than you, Hope. Never.”

Hope nodded, the weight of his words settling around her, their warmth seeping into her bones. They were in this together, for better or worse. But the stakes had never felt higher, and the danger had never felt more real.

She pushed off the wall, her resolve hardening. “I’ll check the data now. We need to know what we’re dealing with.”

Seth released her, watching as she headed toward the small office they’d set up in the townhouse. He followed her, his presence a constant, reassuring weight at her back.

Hope set up her laptop on the desk, plugging in the drive she’d used to extract the data. The screen flickered to life, and she quickly navigated through the files, her fingers moving with practiced ease.

Seth stood behind her, his eyes scanning the screen as the data began to load. It was a mix of encrypted documents, financial records, and what appeared to be communication logs. Hope’s heart raced as she began to sift through the information, her mind racing to make sense of it all.

After several minutes of silence, Seth spoke. “Anything?”

Hope’s brow furrowed as she clicked through another file. “I’m not sure yet. There’s a lot here, but it’s heavily encrypted. I’m going to need time to break through it.”

“Time is a luxury I’m not sure we have,” Seth reminded her, his voice tight. “Whatever you can get, we need it now.”

“I know,” Hope replied, her voice tinged with frustration. “I’m working on it.”

She focused intently on the screen, her fingers moving rapidly as she began to run the encryption-breaking software she’d developed. The process was slow, painfully slow, but she knew she couldn’t afford to rush it. One mistake could erase everything.

Seth’s hand rested lightly on her shoulder, a silent reminder that he was there, that they were in this together. Hope drew strength from his presence, her determination growing with every passing second.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, a small portion of the data began to decrypt. Hope’s eyes widened as she scanned the contents—a list of names, dates, transactions. It was a financial trail, one that linked the Citadel to several offshore accounts, all of which appeared to be connected to the Obsidian Cartel.

“This is it,” Hope whispered, her voice trembling with a mix of triumph and fear. “This is what we needed.”

Seth leaned in closer, his eyes narrowing as he read the information on the screen. “It’s enough to start. But we need more. We need to find the link that ties it all together.”

Hope nodded, her mind already racing with the possibilities. “I can keep working on this, but we’ll need to be careful. Hargrove is watching us, and he’s not going to let his guard down.”

Seth’s jaw tightened, a fierce determination settling into his expression. “Then we’ll make sure he doesn’t see us coming.”

Hope met his gaze and nodded. They were walking a dangerous line, and one wrong step could send them tumbling into the abyss. But she knew, with absolute certainty, that she wasn’t facing this alone.

She reached up, placing her hand over his, her voice soft but resolute. “Together.”

Seth nodded, his eyes holding hers for a long moment before he turned his attention back to the screen. “Let’s finish this.”

Hope took a deep breath, refocusing on the task at hand. The road ahead was fraught with danger, but they had the information they needed, and they had each other.

And as long as they stayed one step ahead of their enemies, they had a chance.

But in the back of her mind, Hope couldn’t shake the feeling that the real test was still to come, that the shadows they’d been navigating were about to close in around them.

All they could do now was prepare for whatever lay ahead—and pray they were ready.

CHAPTER 12

SETH

The quiet of the townhouse was punctuated only by the soft clicking of Hope’s fingers on the keyboard and the occasional rustle as Seth paced the length of the room. It was late—far too late for either of them to be awake—but sleep was out of the question. The adrenaline from the night’s events still coursed through Seth’s veins, keeping him on edge and alert to every sound, every shift in the atmosphere.

Hope was hunched over the small laptop, her face illuminated by the screen's pale glow. She was focused, her brow furrowed in concentration as she sifted through the data she had managed to download before everything went sideways. Seth knew she wouldn’t stop until she found something—anything—that would give them an edge, something that would justify the risk they had taken.

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