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“Just a friend,” Leo gave a dismissive wave over his shoulder, turning to walk away. Every instinct screamed at him to stay, to demand answers, to make them tell him what they’d done to drive Kat into the night. But Kat needed him functional, not in custody.

“Wait—”

Leo’s shoulders tensed. He turned back, eyebrows raised in polite inquiry.

The other woman now approached, pulling a business card from the inside of her suit. “If you hear from Ms. Landon...” Her eyes held his as she extended the card.

Leo accepted it with just the right amount of civilian concern. “Is Kat in some kind of trouble? Should I be worried?”

“We’re simply trying to locate her for a routine matter. Nothing to concern yourself with.” The woman’s smile never reached her eyes. “But if she reaches out...”

“Of course.” Leo glanced at the card—Victoria Eldridge, SIS Internal Oversight Division.

Fuck.

“I hope she’s all right.”

“I’m sure she’ll turn up soon.” The dismissal was clear.

Leo pocketed the card and nodded. “Well, if there’s nothing else...”

Without waiting for an answer, he spun on his heel.

Back in his car, he pulled the door shut, the solid thunk providing momentary security. SIS Internal Oversight Division. Not just any MI6 operation. The people who investigated their own.

Eldridge remained on the sidewalk, her posture rigid as she stared directly at his vehicle.

Hi. Make sure you get all the numbers down.

Zak had arranged the rental through a shell company—a dead end that would only waste her time. Her face pinched, and then she showed him her back.

Leo’s mind raced as he started the engine. Internal Oversight didn’t mobilize for routine matters. They handled corruption, treason, and security breaches at the highest levels. Whatever Kat had stumbled into—or been framed for—was big enough to bring the wolves to her door.

The cracked glass. The agent’s injury. She’d fought them and escaped, but where the hell could she go? Her house was blown, her workplace compromised.

She was alone out there.

The thought made his rib cage lock. Kat was brilliant, trained, capable—but she was also emotionally isolated by design. MI6 taught their people not to trust, not to build the networks that could save them when the institution turned against them.

He peeled away from the curb and into the flow of traffic.

Once he was certain he wasn’t being followed, he reached for his phone and pressed the connection to his brother in Norway, his hands steadier than his pulse.

“Leo, update?” Zak’s voice carried the gruffness of interrupted work, the tap of computer keys audible in the background.

Leo checked his mirrors, changing lanes to pass a slow-moving bus. “Kat’s missing. MI6 raided her house—she escaped, but they’re hunting her.”

The keyboard sounds stopped immediately. “Fuck. What do you need?”

“Everything. Full background sweep—family, friends, safe houses, old training contacts. Financial records, credit cards, phone activity. I need to know every bolt-hole she might run to.”

Leo’s voice sharpened with urgency. “And run a deep profile on a Victoria Eldridge, SIS Internal Oversight, MI6. I want to know who she’s working with and why they want Kat badly enough to come for her personally.”

“How deep do you want me to go?”

“Burn whatever favors you need to. This isn’t a consultation anymore—it’s a full operational priority.” Leo’s grip tightened on the wheel. “Kat reached out to me for a reason. She’s in the wind with no backup, and if Oversight is involved, she’s running out of time.”

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