Page 15 of The Last Morgan

Disguised as nothing more than a standard fitness tracker, Barnaby’s device flashed aggressively. He shot upright, the chair scraping sharp against the polished floors.

Lucy jumped slightly, knocking over her coffee in the process and Corey immediately tensed, one hand moving instinctively toward the gun tucked under his jacket.

"Barnaby," Lucy said sharply, her voice edged with alarm, "what’s going on?"

Corey narrowed his eyes, already stepping between Lucy and the window as a precaution.

Barnaby smirked, tapping a button on the side of his watch.

"I think," he said with barely restrained excitement, "I’ve caught a mouse."

Without waiting for a response, he whipped open his laptop and dropped into the seat, fingers flying over the keys. His screens blinked to life, as code streamed faster than Lucy could follow.

Corey tapped his earpiece, his voice low but urgent.

"David, you need to get to Lucy's office now."

The room shifted immediately. The playful teasing was gone. In its place, a heavy tension settled over all of them.

Seconds dragged into minutes as Lucy, Corey, and David—who arrived in record time—stood around Barnaby, who was hunched over his setup, typing furiously.

Lucy felt her heart hammering against her ribs. She barely breathed. Her mind raced with possibilities. Had the breach finally escalated to a direct threat?

Barnaby’s brow furrowed in concentration; his mouth set in a tight line.

"Come on, come on," he muttered under his breath. "Show yourself..."

Then, he stopped typing. His fingers hovered above the keyboard. His head slowly turned toward Lucy, a massive grin spreading across his face.

"Found them," he said triumphantly. "They're here, Lucy. Right here.”

"Here?" Lucy repeated, stunned. "You mean—"

"Inside this building," Barnaby said, eyes flashing with victory. "Not just the building. They're logged into the internal server from one of the office terminals."

David swore under his breath.

"Wait," Barnaby continued, his fingers dancing again, "it's leading me..."

On the central screen, a digital map of the Morgan Group’s headquarters glowed bright. A red dot pulsed gently, moving from one section to another.

"The system is tracking their movement in real-time," Barnaby explained quickly. "I'm piggybacking off their access trail."

Lucy and Corey leaned in closer.

"Where are they?" Corey asked.

"Give it a second," Barnaby replied. "And get this—once I access their station, I can connect directly to their webcam."

Lucy’s blood chilled.

"We can see them?"

Barnaby nodded, eyes gleaming.

"I built a micro-siphon tool last night. If I click this button, I’ll access their device—camera, microphone, even stored files—without them knowing."

He hovered his finger above the enter key.

"Are you ready for me to click this button?"

Lucy didn’t hesitate. Her voice was cold as steel.

"Do it."

Barnaby hit the key.

Instantly, the screen split in two. On one side, scrolling code. On the other, a grainy live feed from the computers built in webcam.

The image sharpened, and a face came into view.

Lucy sucked in a sharp breath.

It wasn’t some dark-suited agent. It wasn’t a masked hacker.

It was just a regular guy.

"That’s Peter Grant," David said grimly. "Finance division. Been with the company six years."

"And now he's fired," Lucy muttered.

Peter looked completely unaware that he was being watched. He typed calmly, sipping coffee, a picture of normalcy.

"What's he doing?" Corey asked.

Barnaby tapped a few keys.

"Accessing internal budgets... No, wait—"

The screen flickered as Barnaby dug deeper.

"He's pulling executive files," Barnaby said, stunned. "He’s trying to clone Lucy’s personal authorizations."

Lucy’s stomach twisted.

"How do we stop him without tipping him off?" she asked.

David stepped forward.

"We don't. We let him finish."

Lucy turned on him.

"Why the hell would we do that?"

"Because," David said, "if we stop him now, he’ll just lawyer up. If we let him complete the breach, we have him on more than just an attempt."

Barnaby nodded slowly.

"He's right, Lucy. It’s the difference between firing him and burying him."

Lucy ground her teeth together.

"Fine," she said. "But the second he’s done; I want him in cuffs."

"Already on it," Corey said, pulling out his phone to coordinate with internal security and Carter.

Barnaby leaned back, folding his arms behind his head with a satisfied smirk.

"I love it when a plan comes together."

Lucy smiled tightly, but her mind was already elsewhere.

If Peter Grant was just the beginning, how many others have been compromised?

The real war was just getting started.

Lucy folded her arms and narrowed her eyes. "Barnaby, run a full background check on Peter Grant. Before we call Carter to come collect the rubbish, we need to know everything about him—his connections, his family, anyone he’s ever spoken to."

Barnaby snapped back into action, fingers flying over his keyboard.

Lucy turned to David. "I think I need to bring you fully into the loop. Corey, can you explain everything to him while I work with Barnaby?"

Corey nodded grimly and motioned for David to step aside with him.

David looked overwhelmed but followed. As Corey quietly and quickly broke down Lucy’s situation—her inheritance, the attacks, the threat to her life—David’s eyes widened in disbelief.

"Her life’s at risk?" he hissed under his breath. "She needs a personal guard—someone dedicated just to her. I know she has you, Corey, and those other guys, but she needs more than just that."

Corey’s expression was hard. "Leave that with me."

Meanwhile, Barnaby pulled up file after file, the screen flickering as Peter Grant’s entire digital life unfolded before them.

"Peter Grant," Barnaby muttered, scanning rapidly, "age thirty-four, single, background in finance. No criminal record. Frequent overseas travel—interesting... Here’s something: regular wire transfers to a private account in Mexico. And... wait—"

Barnaby leaned in, squinting at the screen.

"Family ties: one sister. Name: Rebecca Grant."

Lucy leaned in sharply. "Rebecca?"

Barnaby nodded, his voice dropping. "Rebecca Grant. Birth records show she goes by a different last name now."

Corey and David returned, just as Barnaby was reading the last parts.

"Alias: Rebecca Cole."

Lucy’s heart skipped a beat. She remembered the names she had overheard all those years ago—Jimmy, Max, Rebecca.

"Could she be our Rebecca?" Corey asked quietly.

"Only one way to find out," Lucy said, her voice cold and razor-sharp. "Barnaby, dig deeper. Find me everything on her."

Barnaby nodded once and went back to work, the tension in the room tightening like a noose.

Barnaby worked quickly, his fingers dancing across the keys, pulling up the full connection between Peter Grant and Rebecca.

"They're not blood related," he said, eyes narrowing at the data flashing across the screen. "Peter and Rebecca were both raised in the same care home. Different families adopted them out separately, She’s down as a sibling emergency contact, so I can see where the confusion came from, they reconnected years later. Rebecca financed Peter’s college and university education."

Lucy crossed her arms tightly. "So, she technically groomed him."

Corey nodded. "Clear as day. Got him the degree, got him into the finance world, got him placed here."

"Looks like that was the plan all along," Barnaby said grimly. "She set him up like a sleeper agent."

Lucy leaned in, eyes flashing. "Is he making moves now?"

Barnaby pulled up a live security feed. Peter was at his desk, stuffing files into a messenger bag.

"Yep, looks like he's trying to make a move, to me" Barnaby said. "The transfer is complete."

Lucy stood up sharply.

"Let's go intervene."

Corey and David followed without a word. They marched toward the lift, tension snapping in the air between them.

The ride was silent, heavy with anticipation.

When the doors opened to Peter's floor, they spotted him instantly. Peter looked up from his bag—and froze. Instinctively, he knew.

Without hesitation, he bolted for the stairwell.

"Stop him!" David shouted.

They chased after him, Lucy’s heels clicking against the polished floor.

Peter threw open the stairwell door and ran straight into a brick wall — or rather, into BYRON.

Byron stood there, a ghost in black, calm and immovable.

Without a word, Byron lifted his foot and shoved Peter backward. Peter stumbled, losing his balance, and tumbled down the first flight of stairs with a crash.

Byron descended slowly after him. Peter groaned, trying to crawl, but Byron knelt beside him, pressing a hard hand against his back.

"Don't, fucking move " Byron said in a voice cold enough to freeze hell.

Lucy, Corey, and David stormed through the door seconds later, taking in the scene with wide eyes.

"How?" Lucy gasped, stunned.

Corey smirked and shook his head.

"He's a Dove," he said, as if it was obvious.

Byron looked up at Lucy, their eyes locking for a brief second. Electricity passed between them, and Lucy’s mind stupidly flashed to the memory of the towel incident.

She blinked hard, shaking it off.

"Let's bring him back to my office," she said, voice steady.

Byron hauled Peter up by the collar like he weighed nothing, and the group walked him back through the open office space.

Whispers followed them like a wave.

"What did Peter do?"

"No way, Peter?"

"This has to be a mistake."

Lucy kept her head high, ignoring the stares.

Inside the lift, Peter’s anger boiled over. He turned sharply toward Lucy, sneering.

"You bitch," he spat. "You’ll get everything coming to you."

Byron didn’t hesitate. One quick jab—a solid punch to Peter’s jaw.

Peter’s eyes rolled back, his body going limp.

The last thing Peter saw was Lucy’s face, as he sank into unconsciousness.

The lift doors closed with a soft chime.

They dragged Peter into Lucy's office, dumping him onto a chair like a sack of rubbish. Barnaby glanced up from his computer with a quick nod.

"Don't worry," Barnaby said casually. "I stopped the files. Your personal data never left the system."

Lucy gave a satisfied smile. "Good."

Peter stirred, groaning. Byron stood silently behind Lucy, his presence looming protectively close, his body practically vibrating with tension.

Lucy crossed the room slowly. She leaned forward, hands resting on the desk, staring Peter down as he blinked blearily at her.

"Who sent you?" Lucy asked.

Peter spat blood onto the floor.

"You're already finished. You may as well talk." Lucy said, without budging.

Peter sneered but said nothing.

Barnaby clicked a few keys.

"If it helps," Barnaby said cheerfully, "I’ve pulled up every illegal transfer you made, every email, every message. I can wrap it up nicely for Carter, our brother who is the Captain of the police! when he gets here."

Lucy arched a brow. "Or you can make this easier on yourself."

Peter's eyes darted between them all, "It wasn’t supposed to be like this," he rasped. "Rebecca said you wouldn't cotton on to what I was meant to do."

Lucy’s jaw tightened.

"Which is?" she asked.

Peter shook his head. "I was meant to get as much information on you as possible”

Lucy stepped closer, forcing Peter to meet her gaze.

"Where is she?"

Peter swallowed hard. "She's here. I just don't know where. But trust me, she will know about this. She'll reach out now that I failed." Angry at his conclusion, Peter started to laugh maniacally, his eyes wild. "You think I'm the only one? You think I know something? No one knows anything outside of what they're supposed to know."

Corey walked up, shaking his head. "Did you forget to take your meds, you crazy fool? Speaking in riddles. We already know you're just a pawn in this game of chess and we will protect our queen."

Barnaby burst out laughing. "Oh my god, bro, that was so dramatic."

Lucy agreed with a smirk. "Yeah, Corey. Bit much."

Just then, the doors swung open, and Carter stepped in. Barnaby ran up to him excitedly.

"Look at you, you brute! How have you been?" Carter laughed as he spoke, pulling Barnaby into a rough hug. "Been great. Loving my new temporary digs. We need to get bubble tea soon." Carter wrinkled his nose. "You can have that. I'll have a regular coffee, thanks." Carter turned to the room, surveying the situation. "Well, who do we have here?"

Barnaby handed him a hard drive. "Everything you need to back up whatever they tell you is here."

Corey quickly broke down everything they had uncovered. Carter listened closely. After catching up, Carter turned to Lucy, his eyes twinkling. "So, how's life treating you, now that you're some super big shot?" Lucy smiled, a genuine, warm smile. "This life is yours too, once we wrap up this madness." Carter smiled “ I’m looking forward to it”. He hand signaled for his officers to take Peter away. Said his goodbyes and exited the building.

Barnaby leaned back with a grin. "That was fun." Rebecca is next I take it.

Lucy caught Byron’s eye. His mouth quirked, just barely.

And for the first time, Lucy felt it—a dangerous shift.

Something between them had changed.