Page 86 of Tag (The Golden Team #9)

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I opened the door, tension still coiled tight in my gut from Aponi’s story. They knew Aponi was a Cherokee Indian

Faron stood in the hallway, jaw locked, eyes hard. He held a folder in one hand and a tablet in the other.

“This isn’t a wake-you-up-for-no-reason situation,” he said, stepping inside without waiting for permission. “We dug deeper into the flash drive. There’s a buried file—not just encrypted, but triple-layered under AI masking. Took Gage and Kaylie both to crack it.”

It still amazed me at everything Kaylie knew, and she had more reason to hate Graves than anyone.

He handed the tablet to Aponi, who pulled the sheet tighter around her and sat on the edge of the bed.

I stood beside her, watching the screen load.

And then… there it was.

A series of photographs, names, and timelines—spanning over two decades.

Faces.

Young girls.

Dates.

Locations.

Some of them were marked acquired . Others, pending . A few— terminated .

And there, halfway down the list…

Harman, Isabelle. DOB 07/12. Status: Missing. Reclaim priority: High. Chimera Tier Two Candidate.

Aponi’s breath caught like a punch to the gut.

“What the hell is this?” I asked.

Faron’s voice was tight. “It’s a roster. We think it’s Chimera’s recruitment archive. They’ve been targeting kids with criminal lineage, troubled backgrounds, high-risk potential. Grooming them. Or eliminating them.”

My stomach turned. They were watching me this whole time. Until I went into the foster system.

“They wanted Aponi,” Faron said, looking right at her. “And when she vanished, they didn’t forget. They’ve been watching. Waiting for a way back in.”

Aponi stared at the screen like she was seeing a ghost.

“I thought I escaped them,” she whispered.

“I thought I disappeared. I remembered when they would show up at the house. Momma would tell me to run and hide. I didn’t realize who he was because I never knew his name.

Momma never told me his name; she would just say the devil was coming over, and I would hide. ”

“You did,” I said. “But they couldn’t let it go.”

Faron swiped to the next page. It was worse.

A chart. Lines connecting names, timelines, locations. At the center: Project Chimera . At the edges—symbols we didn’t recognize, government agency codes, and something that stopped my heart cold.

Golden Team.

Rec Center - Los Angeles.

They were targeting us.

Not just Aponi.

All of us.

“Graves wasn’t the architect,” Faron said. “He was a handler. And Chimera’s not just a trafficking ring. It’s a network. Black-market intelligence. Training camps. False identities. They’re raising assassins, spies, and leverage assets.”

Aponi closed her eyes. “And I was supposed to be one of them.”

I crouched in front of her. “But you weren’t. You chose better. You are better.”

She nodded slowly, but her voice was quiet. “They’re still coming.”

Faron looked between us. “This isn’t just a rescue op anymore. It’s war. And Aponi… you may be the key.”