Page 278 of Ruin Me Gently

“Listen,” Orion continued. “I’ve managed to tap into some private surveillance grids. You know, fun little things. Private security feeds, home cameras. That sort of stuff.”

My blood chilled. “What?”

Lilith stiffened, and my arm around her waist instinctively locked tighter, pulling her further back into my chest. Her hand settled over mine, fingers threading between my knuckles, and I forced myself to breathe.

“I’m talking access to private properties,” Orion went on like he hadn’t just detonated a bomb in the middle of the room. “Residential complexes. Luxury estates. Suburban streets. Even some small businesses. You’d be amazed how many clueless bastards leave their security systems wide open.”

“And why the fuck,” I said slowly, “are you telling me this?”

“Because,” Orion said like it was obvious, “I’m giving you access to it.”

“You’re joking,” Finn muttered.

“No. This is as real as it gets.”

I felt Lilith’s muscles tense against me, her fingers pressing tighter into my hand. I couldn’t blame her. I felt like my own heart had stopped.

“You do realise,” I said, my voice low. “That this is highly fucking illegal?”

“Oh, absolutely. But everything about this is illegal,” Orion deadpanned. “Might as well set up a cot in federal prison now.”

“You’re sure no one can trace it?” I asked.

“Positive,” Orion said. “But, you know, in the catastrophic, worst-case scenario that someone does? Well—” He paused. I heard the faint click of his lighter, the familiar inhale of smoke. “—I’ll probably have my equipment seized, my bank accounts blacklisted. Then there’s the prison sentence. Easily ten years minimum for unauthorised surveillance access. Oh, and I’m sure they’ll love me in there.”

“Orion.” Finn said.

“But hey!” he cut back in, forcing a brittle laugh. “Maybe I’ll get lucky. Maybe they’ll skip the trial altogether and shove me in the back of a van. Bag over my head, hands zip-tied, and boom. I vanish off the grid like I never fucking existed.”

“Holy shit, man,” Finn muttered.

I dragged my hand down my face, exhaling slow and hard. “How much this time?” I asked, already bracing myself for the number.

“Nothing.”

I stilled. Nothing. Orion didn’t donothing. Not ever. He never lifted a finger unless he was getting something out of it. Money. Favours. Leverage. That was just how he operated—always.

“Bullshit,” I snapped.

Orion chuckled. “Consider it an apology. Or a terrible investment in your revenge arc. Whichever helps you sleep better at night. I’ve already uploaded the interface into the program you’ve been using. You’ll need to access the remote directory, then find the encrypted .AXF file on the main dashboard. Open that, then type in this code—2-4-1-9-6-3-Delta-Alpha. Got that?”

I scrawled the code on a scrap of paper.

“Once you’re in,” Orion continued, “it’ll unlock a string of feeds. They refresh every thirty seconds—not live, but damn close. Residential feeds only, nothing high security. Gardens, driveways, front doors… If that asshole so much as walks past someone’s house, the AIFG will flag him immediately.”

I stared at the numbers in my handwriting, pulse thumping low in my throat.

“You can’t scrub back with this,” he continued. “Private feeds don’t hold that much data. But anything from here on out? You’ll catch him. Guaranteed.”

Finn shot me a glance, then leaned forward, tapping the phone screen. “Thanks, Orion.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Orion muttered. “Good luck.”

The line went dead, and for a second, none of us moved.

“Well?” Finn said, breaking the silence. “We doing this?”

“Yeah,” I said, swallowing hard as my fingers flexed against Lilith’s thigh, grounding myself. “Let’s do it.”

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