Page 21 of A Ballad of Blackbirds and Betrayal

“It is.”Cho’s fingers drummed a nervous rhythm against her travel mug, the silver thermal container clutched like a lifeline.“I swept myself for trackers before leaving BioGenix.I took three different routes to get here.If I’m being followed, we’re both already in danger.”

“Yet you came anyway,” Sabrina observed, studying the woman’s face.Dark circles shadowed eyes that darted continuously to the door.“Why?”

“Look, I didn’t have a choice about the legal response when you started asking questions, Dr.Wells.The protocols are clear—any external inquiry gets routed to legal.I tried to warn you off with the HIPAA excuse.”

“Warn me off?”The implication hung between them, heavy with meaning.

“You’re good at your job—too good.You recognized patterns no one else connected.”Cho’s fingers wrapped tighter around her mug, knuckles whitening with the strain.“I knew it would put you on their radar.I hoped the legal threats would scare you enough to back off.”

“Yet here you are, meeting with me despite those same threats,” Sabrina countered, keeping her voice level despite the adrenaline beginning to course through her veins.“Why?”

“Because Martinez disappeared yesterday.”Fear flashed across Cho’s face, raw and undisguised.“Lead containment technician at BioGenix.Third one this month.Williams and Chen last week, now Martinez.”Her voice dropped to a whisper that barely carried across the table.“They’re cleaning house, Dr.Wells.Anyone who knows too much about Blackbird is being…removed.”

“Tell us about Operation Blackbird,” Atticus instructed through Sabrina’s earpiece, his voice calm and commanding.

Sabrina took a measured sip of her coffee, using the motion to mask her response to Atticus before addressing Cho directly.“What exactly is Operation Blackbird?I need to understand what we’re dealing with.”

“It started as legitimate research into targeted immunotherapy—using engineered proteins to attack specific cancer cells while leaving healthy tissue untouched.”Cho’s hands trembled slightly against the stainless steel of her travel mug.“Mitchell’s foundation provided the initial funding.The applications were groundbreaking—revolutionary, even.”

“Until someone realized the targeting mechanism could be reversed,” Sabrina concluded grimly, opening the folder Cho had placed on the table to find molecular diagrams and testing protocols.Her medical training immediately recognized the implications.“Instead of protecting healthy cells, you could program it to destroy them.”

“Exactly.”The word carried the weight of Cho’s guilt, her voice bitter with self-recrimination.“The switch happened gradually, so subtle most of us didn’t realize what we were creating until it was too late.By then, we were in too deep.Mitchell’s security team made it clear there was no walking away.”

“The victims I treated?—”

“Accidental exposures during early development,” Cho confirmed, her gaze dropping to the diagrams spread between them.“The delivery system was still unstable.But that’s changed.”She tapped a complex molecular diagram with a perfectly manicured nail that couldn’t quite hide the tremor in her fingers.“This is the current formula.They’ve stabilized it for aerosol dispersal.Colorless, odorless, with a ninety-minute dormancy period before symptoms appear.”

Sabrina studied the diagram, her medical training translating the complex chemical structures into practical implications with efficiency.“The incubation window makes it nearly impossible to trace exposure back to its source.”

“That’s the point.By the time symptoms appear, the perpetrators are long gone and the delivery system has dispersed.”Cho’s fingers tightened around her mug again, the metal creaking slightly under the pressure.“Mitchell’s already scheduled a demonstration for potential buyers.Three days from now, at a private facility outside of Dallas.”

“Names,” Atticus prompted in Sabrina’s ear.“We need names of the buyers.”

“Do you have names of the potential buyers?”Sabrina asked.

“I don’t have them.Security compartmentalization—no one knows more than they need to.”Cho reached into her jacket pocket with controlled movements that belied her fear, withdrawing a small flash drive and sliding it across the table.“But this contains the complete formula, including the molecular triggers that make it so lethal.If you have someone who understands biochemical engineering, they might be able to develop a countermeasure.”

Sabrina picked up the flash drive, its weight insignificant compared to the knowledge it contained.Lives and deaths, packaged in plastic and metal smaller than her thumb.“Why are you doing this?Why now?”

Cho’s composure finally cracked, a flash of naked fear crossing her face like lightning across a stormy sky.“Because I’m next on the list.I know I am.I’ve seen the pattern—after every major development milestone, the key researchers disappear.Martinez knew the delivery system better than anyone.Now he’s gone, which means the system is perfected.”She inhaled shakily, the sound catching in her throat.“I helped create this monstrosity.I can’t undo that, but maybe I can help stop it.”

The conviction in her voice seemed genuine, but Sabrina had been played by experts before.In this world where lives were weighed against profit margins, apparent sincerity was just another form of currency, easily counterfeited and freely spent.She glanced across to where Jade sat, the woman’s eyes briefly meeting hers over the edge of her book before returning to their vigilant sweep of the café.

“Proceed with caution,” Atticus murmured in her ear, the low timbre of his voice sending an involuntary shiver down her spine.“Get what we need, but don’t trust completely.”

Sabrina nodded slightly, acknowledging Atticus’s assessment before asking, “What’s your exit strategy?”

“I have a cousin in Vancouver.Canadian citizenship through my mother’s side.Flight leaves tonight.”Cho’s smile was thin and brittle, like glass about to shatter.“Assuming I live that long.”

“We can help protect you,” Sabrina offered, meaning it despite the complications it would create for Dynamis.

“No.”Cho shook her head firmly, fear and determination warring in her expression.“The only safety is distance and anonymity.Besides, the less connection between us, the better for both of us.”She glanced at her watch, a delicate timepiece that seemed at odds with her practical attire.“I’ve been here too long already.Mitchell has eyes everywhere.”

Cho started to rise, then paused.“I’ve become paranoid since my colleagues started disappearing,” she confessed, glancing at her travel mug.“I don’t trust the coffee machines at work anymore—who knows what might be in them.I brew my own in my office and keep it with me.”A bitter laugh escaped her.

She unscrewed the lid, steam rising from the dark liquid inside.“But I ran out of creamer this morning.Haven’t had a chance to drink it yet.”Her hands trembled slightly as she reached for the small ceramic bowl of creamers in the center of the table, tore open two packets with precise movements, and poured them in, stirring with a wooden stick from the dispenser.

“One last thing,” she said, looking directly at Sabrina as she replaced the lid.“There’s a critical weakness in the formula—the protein binding site.With the right counteragent, you might be able to deactivate it before symptoms progress too far.It’s all in the file, but?—”

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