Page 49 of Hunter's Game
“Dammit, Eden—” She could hear his struggle between operational necessity and personal concern.
“Hunter,” she cut him off again as she heard footsteps approaching. “We can discuss my trust issues later. Right now, I need you to focus on the mission. Get the files. Expose their operation. End this.”
“And what about you?”
She smiled into the darkness as she prepared to run. “I’ve got my own mission to complete.”
“Eden—”
She switched off the earpiece. Through the walls, she heard the Blind Jacks engaging Romano’s forces. The distraction would give her the time she needed to reach the real target—the evidence Romano’s brother thought was safely hidden in his private office.
The truth about her mother’s murder. About Romano’s operation. About everything. Including what Katherine had been documenting all these years—the systematic connections between artifact trafficking, political corruption, and private military contracting that Katherine had meticulously tracked while maintaining her museum curator cover. The evidence Katherine had preserved using the same documentation techniques their mother had pioneered, creating a paper trail disguised as academic recordkeeping.
More explosions rocked the building as she ran. The Blind Jacks were putting on quite a show, enough chaos and destruction to convince Romano’s people that this was a straightforwardrescue attempt rather than a carefully orchestrated infiltration.
Her bare feet made no sound on the concrete as she navigated the maze-like facility. Three years of planning, of gathering intel and building contingencies, had led to this moment. She wouldn’t waste it.
A guard appeared around the corner. Eden took him down before he could raise his weapon, appropriating his gun and access card. Two more fell to quick, silent strikes before she reached her destination. A heavy steel door marked “Private.”
The access card worked. Of course it did. She’d made sure the guard she took it from had the highest security clearance.
Inside, Aleksander Romano’s private office was everything she expected—expensive, secure, and full of evidence he thought was safely hidden. Eden moved quickly, accessing his private server while downloading everything to the drive concealed in her hair tie.
A photo on his desk caught her eye. Viktor and Aleksander Romano, fifteen years younger, standing with her father. The younger Merrick Mitchell looked different then—less weathered, his beard still mostly dark, though his eyes already carried the calculating coldness she remembered from childhood. And there, in the background, barely visible but unmistakable...
Her mother.
Sarah Mitchell’s elegant features captured in profile, her honey-blonde hair—the same shade Eden had inherited—pulled back in a practical style that emphasized her high cheekbones and watchful eyes. Very much alive on the day she was supposed to have died.
Eden’s hands shook slightly as she pocketed the photo. Another piece of the puzzle she’d been assembling since finding her mother’s real body three years ago.
The download completed just as gunfire erupted outside the office. Time to go.
She was halfway to the emergency exit when Aleksander’s voice stopped her.
“I have to admit.” He slow-clapped from the doorway. “This was beautifully played. Using yourself as bait, letting us think we had the upper hand... Your mother would be proud.”
Eden turned slowly, keeping her stolen weapon aimed at her mother’s killer’s chest. “You’d know all about wouldn’t you.”
“Sarah was a remarkable woman.” He didn’t seem concerned about the gun. “Much like you, she had a talent for getting into secure places. Unlike you, she didn’t know when to stop digging.”
“She found proof.” Eden’s voice was steady despite her racing heart. “Not just about the artifacts or the money laundering. She found out what you were really building.”
“A new world order.” Aleksander spread his hands. “One where power isn’t limited by bordersor governments. Where men like me can operate freely, without interference from...inconvenient laws.”
“She was your friend.” The words tasted like ash. “She trusted you.”
“She was a liability.” His smile turned cruel. “Just like you’ve become. Though I have to say, watching you tear apart Viktor’s operation was almost worth it. You really are your mother’s daughter.”
“You have no idea.” Eden’s smile matched his for cruelty. “Mom taught me a lot of things before you killed her. Want to know the most important lesson?”
He raised an eyebrow.
“Always have a backup plan.”
The explosion that rocked the building this time wasn’t the Blind Jacks. It was the charges Eden had planted in Aleksander’s private server, timed to detonate the moment her download completed.
She fired twice—not to kill, but to disable—then ran as the office went up in flames. Behind her, Aleksander’s rage-filled scream promised retribution.
