The hallway grew quiet as the agents escorted the politicians and Ethan toward the freight elevators.

The silence that followed was heavy, filled only with the hum of the building’s ventilation system.

Liam looked at me, a faint, tired smile touching his lips. “It’s over, Claire.”

“Not yet,” I said, looking down at the burner phone still in my hand.

The screen was still lit, but the green bars had disappeared.

In their place, a single, encrypted chat window had opened, showing a local area code I didn’t recognize.

The phone vibrated twice, a short, sharp buzz against my palm.

I tapped the screen, opening the message.

The text was short, written in plain block letters.

*He has a second ledger.*

I stared at the words, my breath catching in my throat.

“What is it?” Liam asked, noticing the change in my expression.

I didn’t answer right away, my eyes locked on the blinking cursor at the bottom of the screen.

The sender’s name was redacted, replaced by a string of random characters.

A second message appeared beneath the first.