Chapter 124 Chapter 124
Stanley's POV
Nolan's hands raced over the keyboard, his eyes locked on Serena's system like he was in a fight. He was so focused the air was thickening. I stood by and saw the numbers roll down the screen, green lines shooting up and down, blinking symbols that meant nothing to me. I stayed back but my chest was tight. It was like observing a storm through glass, unable to prevent it, unable to alter anything.
Serena sat stiffly beside me. Her arms were wrapped tightly around herself as though she was scared of falling apart. I'd seen her fight before. I'd seen her be fierce and stubborn, fire in her eyes, unshakeable even when things fell apart. But now she looked small. Smaller than I'd ever realized before.
Her lips moved and I figured for a moment that she was simply mouthing words to herself. Then I realized it was a whisper. So soft I hardly heard it.
"This is my fault."
The words stung.
I bent forward. "What do you mean?"
Her voice shook as she responded. "I was the one who did everything here. All of the research, all of the documents, every lead I uncovered, I did that myself. But I should have atleast told someone I trust how to get to it, just incase anything happen? Burying it under levels of security was supposed to keep it safe from people, not the actually men that needed it. But look at this." She motioned to Nolan and the screen.
“It has backfired. Now we are helpless and we would lose the case . If I had built it differently maybe. ."
I could not let her keep tearing herself apart. I cut in, my voice harsher than I meant it to be. "Okay, That's enough. Serena, you were doing your best. You were attempting to keep the information safe. No one could have foreseen that Dominic would twist things and ambush you, no one. This isn't your fault."
Her eyes locked with mine. They were shiny, with guilt that pressed upon her like a weight she could not set down.
I reached for her hand. Her fingers were cold. She did not grasp mine at once but I held tight.
"You are not on your own in this," I said to her slowly. "You are not going to carry this weight by yourself.".
Her lips trembled. I thought for a moment she was going to argue, push me away, tell me that she didn't deserve that kind of loyalty. But there were no words. She just nodded slightly and let me take her hand.
I was aware of Liana's gaze on us. It was the kind of look that had weight, one you felt before you even looked around. I glanced once and caught her looking. She looked away too fast, but not fast enough. I knew what she was thinking though she would never say it out loud. I dragged my focus back to the moment. "Liana," I asked, "have you heard anything from Mason?"
Her head moved slow side to side. "No. Nothing since the last time. I have tried, but there has been silence on his end."
Nolan's voice cut off before I could answer. His hands didn't stop, fast and slashing, but his voice was clear. "Mason? Who is he?"
Serena wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand and spoke, her voice still raw. "He was a staff of Liana that gothis hand in Dominics dirty business and got caught."
Nolan uttered a dry sound that was almost a laugh but not quite it. “Then why arent you using your mole right now?"
The atmosphere shifted and we all looked confused. The suggestion in the words cut in hard. I leaned forward, my heart racing in my ears. "What do you mean by that?"
Nolan shook his head sharply. "He is in the team. He has access to him and he is loyal to you. He may be your best hope."
Liana straightened in her chair. The paleness in her face shifting into something else, something more purposeful as she asked the question on everyones mind. "Best hope for what?"
Nolan finally turned away from the screen to us. His spectacles glinted green, but his eyes themselves were razor sharp. "At getting what you need without breaking the system. See…" he nodded at the code flashing on the screen, "this encryption's set to self destruct. Put too much pressure on and the files consume themselves. Without Serena's original password, this is suicide to the informations.". But if you track Dominic in real time, you circumvent the lock. Follow the man, not the laptop. Mason can give you raw pieces of Dominic's activity. If he pulls up even bits that connect Dominic to Elia Torres, then you have something to hang your hat on. It's a better bet.
The words hit me like a door slamming open in a wall that I never imagined would break. It was risky, sure, but it was a door and we desperately needed one.
I looked at Serena. She was still holding herself, still anchored down by guilt, but I noticed a flicker of a spark in her eyes again. A spark that showed me she wanted to believe there was still a way forward.
Then I looked at Liana. She was already reaching for her phone, her hand steady, her eyes burning.
Her voice was steady. "Then I will call him immediately."
Her hand gripped the phone like a lifeline, like she already knew that she needed to act before the moment slipped away.
I was silent, watching her dial, watching Serena try to keep it together, listening to Nolan's steady typing. The room felt smaller, like the walls were closing in. All the sounds…. the keyboard clacking, the quiet whir of the phone, Serena's ragged breathing, all converged on me at once.
And through that press of sound and silence, one thing was clear in my chest. We were moving on the edge. Closer than we'd ever been. Make the wrong choice and we lost everything.
But if Mason answered, and if he found what we wanted or even something that suggested it in this short time, we could have a strong case. Then maybe, just maybe we would still have a chance.