Page 39 of Rogue Hope (Hope Landing: New Recruits #4)

Her phone buzzed with an incoming text.

Zara smiled despite the pain. Izzy would drop everything in a heartbeat.

Zara: Stay put. I’ve got this.

Izzy: Not what I hear. Kenji says you look like death warmed over. Don’t make me fly back there and knock sense into you.

Zara couldn’t help the small laugh that escaped.

Zara: I promise to rest. How’s the beach?

Izzy: Gorgeous. Coconut smoothies are amazing. Men are dull. I’ll bring you back a seashell.

Zara: Deal.

The door whooshed open as Kenji entered, medical bag in hand. “You’re up early.”

“Never really went to sleep.” Zara tucked her phone away, wincing as she shifted on the exam table.

Kenji studied her face. “Dark circles. Pallor. Tremor in your left hand.”

“Thorough as always.”

“Someone has to be.” He checked her pulse, his expression professional but concerned. “Temperature’s elevated. Pain level?”

“Four.”

His eyebrow raised skeptically.

“Six,” she amended, then sighed at his continued stare. “Fine. Eight.”

“That’s what I thought.” Kenji’s gentle fingers examined her wrists, elbows, and knees. “Significant inflammation. This flare is particularly aggressive.”

“I don’t have time for this.” She pulled her arm back. “Not with Finn in custody and evidence still coming in.”

“Your body doesn’t care about your schedule.” Kenji opened his medical bag, withdrawing a pre-filled syringe. “This will help with the inflammation, but what you really need is rest.”

Zara held out her arm, her lips pressing into a thin line as the needle pierced her skin. The medication stung as it entered her bloodstream. “The team’s counting on me.”

“The team needs you functional.” Kenji disposed of the syringe carefully. “Have you spoken with Finn since processing?”

Her head snapped up. “What?”

“You’ve been reviewing evidence for three days straight, but you haven’t been back to see him. Maybe it’s time.”

Zara stared at her hands. The truth was, she couldn’t face him. Couldn’t bear to see that look of betrayal again. “I need more time.”

“To find what?” Kenji asked quietly. “Proof he’s guilty or proof he’s innocent?”

The question hit too close to home. Her mind flashed to the timestamp inconsistencies she’d discovered yesterday—small errors that might mean nothing. Or everything.

“I just need to be certain,” she said finally.

Kenji nodded, respecting her decision. “The medication should take effect within thirty minutes. Try to rest until then.”

“I will.”

They both knew she was lying.

The moment Kenji left, Zara slid off the exam table, gritting her teeth against the wave of dizziness that followed. She needed coffee. Needed to clear her head and refocus on the evidence.

Her tablet chimed with an incoming message. Harrison Reynolds.

Her finger hesitated over the screen before accepting the call. Reynolds appeared, his normally impeccable appearance slightly disheveled. A thin scratch marked his cheek.

“Zara,” he said, voice low and urgent. “Are you alone?”

“Yes, sir.” She straightened instinctively. “What’s happened?”

“I’ve found it.” His eyes darted to something off-screen. “Cipher’s main server farm. It’s in an abandoned mining complex outside Hope Landing.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive. I’ve been tracking anomalous power consumption for weeks.” He lowered his voice further. “But I’ve been compromised. Cipher’s operatives discovered me thirty minutes ago.”

“Are you safe? Do you need extraction?”

“Affirmative.” Reynolds glanced over his shoulder. “I’m sending coordinates now. But Zara, this isn’t a standard extraction. The intel on these servers could expose Cipher’s entire network. We can’t risk losing it.”

Her tablet pinged as the data package arrived. “I’ll alert the team?—”

“Zara.” Reynolds’ tone sharpened. “I need your entire team. The site is too large, the security too extensive for anything less than full deployment.”

Something about his urgency tickled at the back of her mind, but she pushed the thought aside. “I’ll brief Ronan right away.”

“Good.” Relief softened his features. “And Zara? Be careful. If Novak truly is connected to Cipher, they might already know about this discovery.”

The call ended, leaving Zara staring at the incoming intelligence package. She forwarded it to the team leaders and headed for the command center, moving as quickly as her painful joints would allow.

By the time she arrived, Ronan and Axel were already reviewing the data on the main display.

“Initial satellite imagery confirms Reynolds’ assessment,” Ronan said as she entered. “Power usage at that site is inconsistent with an abandoned facility.”

“What do we know about the complex?” she asked, easing herself into a chair at the command console.

Axel pulled up historical records. “Former copper mine, shut down in the eighties. Miles of underground tunnels. Perfect place to hide a server farm.”

Deacon entered the command center, already geared up. “Transport’s prepped. We can be on-site in twenty minutes.”

Ronan studied the overlay. “Reynolds has indicated at least six hostiles. We’ll need the full team.”

Zara nodded, but a flicker of unease rippled through her. Something about this felt ... convenient. The timing. The urgency. The location.

The request for complete deployment.

She pulled up Reynolds’ data package again, examining it more carefully. The satellite imagery looked legitimate. The power consumption data matched what you’d expect from a server farm. The threat assessment was detailed and plausible.

So why did her instincts whisper caution?

“Zara?” Ronan’s voice broke through her thoughts. “You don’t look good.”

“Thanks for the compliment.”

“I’m serious.” He lowered his voice. “Your hands are shaking. You’re pale as a ghost.”

“I can handle it.”

“Not this time.” His tone softened but remained firm. “Kenji already briefed me on your condition. You’re staying here.”

“I don’t need a babysitter,” she hissed.

“This isn’t a request. You’ll coordinate from here. That’s an order.”

She wanted to argue, but another wave of pain lanced through her, so intense it momentarily stole her breath. “Fine.”

Ronan turned to the team. “Gear up. We move in ten.”

As the team dispersed to make final preparations, Kenji approached her station. “I’m staying behind.”

“That’s not necessary.”

“Someone needs to monitor your condition.” His expression brooked no argument. “Besides, I can help you coordinate from here.”

The medication was finally beginning to take effect, dulling the sharper edges of her pain. It wouldn’t last long—never did with a flare this severe—but it might give her enough clarity to focus on what was bothering her about her mentor’s intel.

Twenty minutes later, she watched from the command center as two vehicles disappeared down the access road. An uneasy feeling gnawed at her stomach, and it wasn’t just the lupus.

“Communications check,” she said into her headset.

“Reading you five by five,” Ronan’s voice came back clearly. “ETA to target, eighteen minutes.”

“Copy that.” She turned to Kenji. “I need you to check on our guest.”

“Finn? Why?”

“Just a precaution.” She kept her tone casual. “Make sure he’s secure. I don’t want any surprises while the team is deployed.”

Once Kenji left, Zara turned back to the intelligence package, examining it more thoroughly. Something Harrison said during their call nagged at her.

I’ve been tracking anomalous power consumption for weeks .

If he’d been tracking it for weeks, why alert them now? Why not when he first discovered it? And how did Cipher operatives discover him today, just as he was ready to share this intelligence?

She pulled up one of the satellite images, checking its metadata. The timestamp showed it had been taken three days ago—well before Harrison claimed to have been compromised.

That could be explained. He might have been gathering intelligence for days.

But then she noticed something else. The data file containing Harrison’s threat assessment had been created four hours after he claimed to have been discovered and on the run.

“That’s not possible,” she whispered.

She dug deeper, opening more file properties, examining timestamps and location data. Three more inconsistencies appeared. Reports that couldn’t have been compiled if he was hiding from pursuit. Communication intercepts timestamped after he claimed to have gone dark.

Too many coincidences. Too many convenient explanations required.

Her heart began to pound as a terrible possibility took shape. What if he wasn’t running from Cipher?

What if Harrison was Cipher?