Chapter 146

Nova recalled, "The year before I left the company, they had me organize a batch of old files. There was a chart in those files listing over a dozen names with corresponding code names. One of those code names was..."

She glanced at Alexander, leaving the sentence unfinished.

Alexander's eyes turned cold. "Dove."

Nova nodded.

Victoria's fingers tightened around her cup. "Those code names all correspond to the same thing, don't they? Can I... not look?"

She was afraid.

"You don't have to," Isabella said quietly.

Victoria set her cup on the table. She didn't get up to leave, just drew herself tighter into the couch.

Dawn had broken outside. The safe house living room was quiet except for the hum of Oscar's computer fan.

Isabella used a red marker to draw a solid line between "Daphne" and "Raymond," then added a note in small print next to "Raymond."

"Known encrypted communications with Daphne. Frequency unknown."

She stepped back half a pace so both Alexander and Octavia could see the entire board clearly.

"Daphne wants a list," Isabella said flatly. "She thinks that list is in the underground storage tanks at Maple Hill Township, sublevel two. Whether the list actually exists is still uncertain, but her reaction tells us 'she' believes it exists."

Octavia leaned against the table edge. "What if we give her a fake one?"

Isabella turned to look at her. "That's exactly what I was getting to."

Her gaze swept between Oscar and Finnian. "We can't deliver it directly to Daphne."

"It has to be placed somewhere she can 'happen' to find it. Otherwise she'll know something's off."

"Oscar, you mentioned earlier that Maple Hill Township's file transfer channel has a gap window. If we slip the fake list into that channel and make Daphne's people think they dug it up themselves, that should work."

Alexander scrolled through his phone records by the window without looking up. "The fake list has to look exactly like the real thing—watermarks, numbering format, encryption levels, everything. Otherwise her people will spot it immediately."

After all, Daphne wasn't stupid.

Finnian poked his head out from behind his computer. "I can forge the format. I've looked at Maple Hill Township's file templates dozens of times. Pretty much figured out their numbering system too."

"The only problem is the encryption level. They use dual-layer rolling-code encryption. The first layer's easy to crack, but the second layer uses dynamic keys... that's trickier."

Isabella narrowed her eyes. "What's the cycle on the dynamic keys?"

"Changes every four hours. During the changeover there's about a minute-long data gap."

"If we insert the file into their data transfer channel during that gap window, what they'll see is a file that went through legitimate encryption protocols."

"I can handle that," Oscar said. "Give me a time window and I'll punch a hole in their channel."

"And after we punch the hole?" Octavia asked. "Let them get the list and immediately realize it's fake?"

Isabella picked up the whiteboard eraser and drew a circle next to Daphne's name. "That's why the list can't be 'entirely' fake. We need to mix in some real information. When she follows the trail, she'll find there really is a path ahead. The path only dead-ends halfway through."

Alexander pocketed his phone. "I need to know one thing—after she gets this list, which direction will she investigate?"

Isabella wrote a single word on the whiteboard: "Aurora."

"A project code name." Isabella gave a cold laugh. "Nova's testimony mentioned it. This project's timeline overlaps with your mother's disappearance."

"If Daphne gets a list with Aurora correlation markers, she'll definitely follow that thread. And every node she investigates will be under our surveillance."

She set down the marker and turned around. "So we'll fabricate an Aurora list for her."

With that, Isabella drew two branch lines under 'Aurora.'

One pointed to Daphne. The other she left blank for now.

If Daphne still needed Alexander to verify the list after obtaining it, that would mean she lacked sufficient internal technical capability for independent verification.

That assessment would directly affect their next moves...

Octavia thought for a moment. "How will she confirm the list is real after she gets it?"

"She won't judge it herself," Isabella said flatly. "She'll pass it up the chain. The people above will verify it. Verification takes time. During that window, she won't move against our people."

Finnian was already typing. "Give me two days."

Oscar raised his hand. "I can handle the channel thing in one day."

Alexander stared at the fresh "Aurora" marker on the whiteboard. "If this list really does get sent for verification by her people, the verification results will be fed back to her. After she gets confirmation that 'this list is authentic,' what's her next move?"

Isabella picked up the marker again and wrote a line under Daphne's name: "She'll think she's won."

Alexander looked at her, the coldness in his eyes thawing slightly. "And then?"

"Then she'll start closing the net." Isabella capped the marker. "What we need to do is wait at the mouth of her net and catch every fish she releases."

Octavia laughed from the table edge. "Fishing, huh."

Isabella shot her a sidelong glance. "Is this your first day knowing me?"

Everyone in the safe house living room dispersed. The sound of Finnian and Oscar's keyboards began to fill the air in rapid succession.

Alexander walked over to Isabella and said quietly, "You just mentioned 'catching the fish she releases.' What specifically do you mean?"

"There's definitely someone inside the Radcliffe Group feeding her information," Isabella said in a low voice.

"Raymond can't be her only line. If she gets the list, she'll use the fastest possible method to verify its credibility."

"That fastest method is inside the Radcliffe Group. We need to be faster than her."

Alexander was silent for several seconds, then nodded. "I'll arrange it."

As he turned to leave, Isabella grabbed his sleeve. "By the way, has Kyle shown any unusual behavior lately?"

Alexander's steps paused. "No. He's been 'too' normal."

"Then that's the unusual part."

The phone call Kyle made at the airport—Oscar had recorded it.

He'd intercepted the recording earlier, but Isabella had been holding onto it.

She wanted to wait until the fake list was ready before releasing it. It could serve as corroboration for the fake list's existence.

If Daphne knew Kyle had passed along this information, her trust in the fake list would increase another level.

"Release it now."

Isabella glanced at Oscar.

He nodded and clicked play.

The audio quality wasn't great—airport announcements and the sound of luggage wheels rolling mixed —but after noise reduction processing, the voices were about seventy to eighty percent clear.