Page 100 of Malicious Claim

She breathed deeply.

If this was a disaster, No. No second-guessing allowed. She swiped the card. There was a soft beep and the light turned from red to green.

The lock clicked open. She stepped inside—And hesitated.

Screens blanketed the walls, of places and of people. There were at least fifty different phones. On one screen, there were just numbers: bank statements. On another, she saw maps that featured red dots traveling. She saw reports papers stacked in neat piles.

It was all of it.

All of Makros' secrets. All of his enemies. All of his friends.

She was amidst the heart of the Crete's power.

For the first time, She had something tangible. Something she could actually use to destroy the Cretes.

Chapter Forty

Escape of the Spy and Leila's Alliance

LEILA’S POV

I needed to act quickly.

The whirring of machines echoed through the communications room, the light of monitors casting hard illumination on my features. Screens flickered with surveillance images, intercepted conversations, and encoded messages.

If Makros discovered me here, I would not live to see the dawn.

The place did not feel secure at all. There were no cameras to be seen, and while some of the monitors did display footage of everywhere in the house, they seemed to adhere to an unstated rule—rooms were off-limits. The communication room was still a room, after all. But I couldn't afford to be careless. I walked cautiously, being mindful of what I came into contact with. The last thing I wanted to do was trigger an alarm by accident.

I took a slow breath and clutched the control panel. The spy's phone number was burned into my mind, and I punched it in hard.

The phone rang.

Once.

Twice.

Then it connected with a click. There was a pause, as if the other person had wanted me to speak first. Then a sharp, suspicious voice.

"Who the devil is this?"

No hello. Just plain hostility. He was already on edge.

Good.

"You're running out of time," I whispered. "Makros is coming to put an end to you."

There was a beat of silence. Then a sneer. "I don't know who you are. But I haven't done fucking shit to Makros. You hear me?"

"Dimitri, listen and listen to me very carefully. Dragon is coming. You need to leave wherever you're now."

A contemplative silence before, "How am I supposed to trust you? What if this is a trap—"

"It's not." My voice was firm. "I don't work for Makros."

He took a deep breath which frayed my nerves. I didn't need this, right now.

"Bullshit. How else would you have this number?"