Page 111 of Hunt Me
Iris steps forward. “They’ll ask technical questions you can’t answer.”
I move beside her. “She’s right.”
“Of course you think so,” Dmitri mutters.
“Because it’stactical.” Alexi’s voice sharpens. “Iris knows Project Nightshade inside and out. She built the encryption that they can’t crack. You think Sentinel’s going to negotiate with three men who can’t even explain what they’re bargaining with?”
Nikolai’s jaw tightens. “Fine. Iris comes.”
“Like hell she does,” Erik speaks for the first time. “You’re walking three civilians into a federal building to negotiate with people who’ve already tried to kill one of them.”
“I’m not a civilian,” she counters. “I know how these people operate.”
“Exactly.” Erik’s dark eyes are pinned to her. “Which means you know they don’t negotiate in good faith.”
“Then what’s the alternative?” I demand. “We hide? Run? Let them control the narrative while they hunt us down one by one?”
“We hit them first,” Erik says flatly. “Hard. Fast. Eliminate the threat before they can mobilize.”
“That’s your solution to everything.” Dmitri pushes off the counter. “Kill them all and sort it out later.”
“It works,” Dmitri quips.
“Not this time.” Nikolai’s voice cuts through the argument. “This isn’t some rival bratva we can disappear. This is the UnitedStates government. We start a shooting war with Sentinel, and we lose everything.”
“We might lose everything anyway,” Sofia murmurs.
The kitchen falls silent.
She’s right, and everyone knows it.
“The meeting happens,” Nikolai says finally. “Iris comes. But we do this my way. Complete information blackout. No phones. No traceable tech. We go in clean.”
“I need my laptop,” Iris protests.
“No,” Nikolai replies.
“They’ll want proof I can deliver what Morrison wanted. That means showing them?—”
“You show them nothing.” Nikolai’s tone is final. “We negotiate terms first. Proof comes later, on our turf, with our security.”
Iris opens her mouth to argue, but my hand finds the small of her back and squeezes in warning.
I watch Iris swallow her protests despite that stubborn set to her jaw.
“Thirty minutes,” Nikolai continues. “We’re in and out. Establish contact. Set parameters. Nothing more.”
“And if they try to hold us?” Dmitri asks.
“They won’t.” But Nikolai’s expression suggests he doesn’t believe his own words. “Erik’s perimeter team will have eyes on every exit. First sign of trouble, we extract.”
Maya finally speaks, her voice small. “What about after? When the meeting’s over?”
No one answers.
Because we all know the truth.
After today, nothing will ever be the same.
