Morning cos too quickly.
I’m preparing to et Rose Fisher at her art gallery in SoHo. The plan is simple: pose as a potential client, get her talking, and find connections to Charles.
The wire was hidden under my clothes with Lisa monitoring remotely. Weapon concealed at the small of my back.
Tony checks my wire. "You don’t have to do this."
"Yes, I do. Rose is mine; you focus on Will Grant."
"Be careful."
"Always am."
We kiss, longer than necessary, like we’re saying goodbye.
My phone buzzes with a text from Elliot:
Be careful. Ted Zhao’s cybersecurity firm just pinged our ho network. He knows we’re investigating.
My blood runs cold.
I type back: Does he know about the wire?
Elliot: If he’s as good as his reputation, yes.
I look at Tony and show him the ssage.
"We abort," he says imdiately.
"No. We’re too close. If we back off now, we lose our chance."
"Katherine-"
"I’m going. Rose is expecting . If I don’t show, she’ll know we’re onto her."
Tony’s jaw clenches, but he knows I’m right.
"I’m coming with you."
"You have Will Grant-"
"Bella can handle Will. I’m not letting you walk into a trap alone."
I should argue, but honestly, I’m relieved.
"Okay."
Rose Fisher’s gallery is in a converted warehouse in SoHo. High ceilings, white walls, and expensive art illuminated perfectly.
It was beautiful, cold, and empty except for one woman.
Rose herself.
She’s stunning in her late thirties with a French accent. Elegant in a way that speaks of old money and careful cultivation.
"Katherine Blaire." Her smile is warm. Welcoming. "What a pleasant surprise."
My hand moves subtly toward my concealed weapon. "Ms. Fisher. Thank you for seeing ."
"Please, call Rose." She gestures to a seating area. "I’ve been expecting you."
The words stop cold. "Have you?"
"Of course. Charles told about you, said you’d co eventually."
Charles. She’s admitting the connection openly.
"He spoke highly of you," Rose continues, settling into a chair. "Said you were brilliant and dangerous. The one who would figure it out."
"Figure what out?"
"That we’re not your enemy."
She says it so calmly and matter-of-factly.
"Sit, please. We have much to discuss. About Charles, his real legacy, and about the student who’s actually trying to kill you."
I didn’t sit, didn’t move from where I was. "What are you talking about?"
"You’re investigating the wrong people, Katherine." Rose’s voice is gentle and almost pitying. "Will, Ted, and I - we’re not Charles’s soldiers. We’re his victims, just like you."
"Victims don’t usually admit connections to their abusers so readily."
"No, but they do recognize fellow survivors." She pulls up a photo on her phone and shows it to .
A beautiful woman with cold eyes. It’s an unfamiliar face, though.
"Her na is Diane Reece. Charles’s favorite student and one of his most dangerous protégés. She’s been hunting you since the mont Charles died."
The na ant nothing to . "Who is she?"
"The one who sent the poison last night. The one who manipulated Victoria Bridges, who radicalized Marcus Davidson. All of it - Diane, pulling strings while staying invisible."
"Why should I believe you?"
"Because I have no reason to lie. Diane wants dead, too; everyone Charles trained. She’s eliminating potential rivals and consolidating power."
Tony’s voice cos through my earpiece. "Katherine, I’m thirty seconds out. Say the word, and I’m coming in."
Before I can respond, Rose’s phone buzzes. She checks it.
Her face goes pale.
"We need to leave. Now."
"What-"
"Diane knows we’re eting and she’s coming."
"How do you-"
The gallery’s front windows explode.
Glass, fire, and smoke; the concussive force threw backward.
I hit the ground hard, my ears ringing. I can’t see through the smoke.
Then I hear quiet footsteps and a figure materializes through the smoke.
It was a woman with dark hair. Her weapon raised.
Diane Reece... and she was smiling.
"Hello, Katherine," she says. "I’ve been waiting to et you."
She aims.
I roll and the bullet hits where I was a second ago.
My weapon is in my hand, and I fire back.
She dodges, impossibly fast.
"Tony!" I scream into my wire. "It’s a trap! She’s here!"
More gunfire. Rose is shooting too - at Diane, not .
Maybe she was telling the truth.
Diane moves like a ghost, with each shot missing by inches.
She’s playing with us.
"You know what Charles taught ?" Diane calls over the gunfire. "Patience and strategy. How to win by making your enemies destroy themselves."
"You used Victoria," I shout back.
"Victoria was easy. Angry, grieving - a perfect puppet." Another shot, and I duck behind a sculpture. "Marcus, too, everyone was so eager for revenge. All I had to do was point them at you."
"Why?"
"Because Charles wanted you dead. Made promise that was his dying wish." Her voice is eerily calm. "And I never break a promise."
The front door crashes open with Tony and Luca’s team flooding in.
Diane doesn’t even look concerned.
She pulls sothing from her jacket. It was a grenade.
"Next ti, Katherine," she says.
Then drops it, and there was smoke everywhere. I’m blind.
"Grenade!" soone shouts.
We’re all diving for cover, but it’s not explosive. Just smoke... and more smoke.
When it clears, Diane is gone.
Vanished like a ghost.
Rose is on the ground shot and bleeding from her shoulder.
"She’s getting away!" I scream.
"She’s already gone," Rose gasps. "That’s what she does. Diane never stays to fight. She plants seeds and lets them grow. Then watches from afar."
Tony pulls into his arms. "Are you hurt?"
"No. But she was right here... and we let her escape."
"We’re alive, that’s what matters."
But Rose is shaking her head. "You don’t understand. Diane doesn’t want you dead quickly. She wants you destroyed. Your reputation, your business, and your relationships. Everything."
"She’s been planning this for several months since Charles died and you." Rose looks at , "... you just gave her exactly what she needed."
"What do you an?"
"Your investigation, your questions. Now Diane knows you’re hunting her, so she’ll accelerate. Whatever she’s been planning, it’s happening now."
My phone buzzes with a text from an unknown number.
I already know who it was.
Hello, Katherine. Lovely to finally et. Sorry, I couldn’t stay, but don’t worry, we’ll see each other again very soon. I’m going to take everything from you just like you took Charles from . Starting with the person you love most. -Diane
She attached a photo of Tony walking out of Will Grant’s office building.
Red crosshairs superimposed on his chest.
"No," I whisper.
I look at Tony. He sees my face and takes my phone.
His expression goes cold.
"She knows where I was and what I was doing. She’s been watching all of us."
"Tony-" Rose tries to sit up and winces. "Diane doesn’t make idle threats. If she says she’s coming for you, she’s already moving."
"Then let her co," Tony says with steel in his voice. "I’m done being hunted. It’s ti to beco the hunter."
But I’m looking at that photo and those crosshairs.
Diane Reece isn’t like Victoria, Marcus, or any of the enemies we’ve faced.
She’s patient, strategic, and invisible.
And she’s been planning our destruction for months.
We thought defeating Victoria was the end.
But it was just the beginning.
Charles Sterling’s most dangerous student is coming for us.
And this ti, I don’t know if we can win.
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