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Chapter 2 - CHAPTER 2 | THE LEAK

The city woke to headlines that screamed her name.

FIXER AT THE CENTER OF SENATOR'S DEATH.

Ava sat at the kitchen counter, hair still damp from the shower, watching the ticker crawl across the screen. She had rewritten dozens of scandals for clients, but watching one with her own face on it felt like tasting poison she'd mixed herself.

Liam poured coffee from her pot as if he lived there. His bandage was clean, his eyes sharper than before. "You need to talk to your firm before they decide you're a liability."

"They already have," she said, holding up her muted phone. "Three missed calls, zero loyalty."

"Then what's the plan?"

"Damage control."

He smirked. "You are damage control."

She looked at him. "Then I'll fix me first."

He liked that answer; she could see it in the slight curve at his mouth.

Before she could speak, her doorbell chimed. Too early for friends, too late for comfort. Liam drew his gun, motioned for silence. She checked the camera. Detective Kai Benton stood outside, rain on his coat, eyes tired but alert.

"Let him in," Liam said.

"Are you insane?"

"He'll just come back with a warrant."

She opened the door halfway. "Detective."

Kai held up a file. "I thought you'd rather talk before the paperwork does."

Ava stepped aside. Liam stayed where he was, a wall of quiet threat.

Kai took in the scene: two coffee cups, one bandaged shoulder, the faint trace of tension that had nothing to do with crime. "Long night?"

"The longest," Ava said.

"I need your statement," Kai said, flipping his notepad. "About the senator, the explosion, the missing security feed."

"I've already filed through my firm."

"I want it from you, not your lawyers."

She folded her arms. "Off the record?"

He nodded.

"Then I'll say this once," she said. "I didn't kill him."

Kai's gaze didn't waver. "But you know who did."

She met his eyes. "I think so. And I think they're not done."

Silence. Liam's phone buzzed. He glanced down, a message from an unknown number: Tell her to stop digging. We'll finish the job tonight.

He slid the phone across the counter without a word. Kai read it, jaw tightening.

"Who sent that?" he asked.

"If we knew," Liam said, "we'd already be moving."

Kai closed his notebook. "You'll both hear from me. Don't leave the city."

He turned to go. Ava stopped him at the door. "Detective," she said, "if I find something first, I'll call."

"Make sure you do," he said, then left.

The door clicked shut. For a moment, the apartment felt too quiet. Then the rain outside turned harder, drumming against the glass like restless fingers.

Liam looked at her. "You still have the footage?"

Ava nodded. "Encrypted. Hidden in plain sight."

"Where?"

"In the one place no one looks for truth, inside a lie."

He raised an eyebrow. "Meaning?"

She smiled faintly. "My firm's vault of false statements."

He laughed once, low. "You really are damage control."

Her smile faded. "You should get some rest."

"So should you."

"Can't. There's too much to clean up."

He hesitated, then stepped closer. The tension that had hummed between them since the alley rose again, softer now but deeper. She didn't move away this time.

"Stay until the rain stops," she said.

He nodded. "I will."

Their eyes held for a second longer than sense allowed. Then she turned back to her laptop, forcing focus. He moved to the window, watching the street below.

Down on the corner, a black sedan idled, windows fogged. A camera flash blinked once.

Liam frowned. "We've got company."

Ava looked up. "Press?"

"Not press."

He pulled his jacket back on. "Pack your drive. We're leaving."

"Where?"

"Somewhere the city can't see us breathe."

Outside, thunder rolled again. Somewhere behind the clouds, Verrin hid its next secret.

Morning slid into the city like a rumor.

Rain clouds still hung low over Verrin, muting everything to silver and gray.

Ava's phone would not stop vibrating.

Each new notification was a headline, a new photo, a lie built from truth.

Someone had leaked the hotel security footage, only fragments, but enough to show her and Liam side by side in the corridor before the blast.

It was everywhere.

Liam stood at her kitchen counter, scrolling through the news on his own phone. "Who had access to that feed?"

"Only my firm," Ava said. "And the hotel's tech division."

"Or anyone who pays both."

She poured coffee with hands that shook less than she felt. "This isn't random. The leak is a message."

"Then who's the sender?"

She didn't answer. The name on her tongue tasted like regret.

He came to stand behind her, close enough that his warmth reached through the tension. "We can trace it. You know the networks better than anyone."

She turned slightly; his face was inches from hers. Their eyes met in the window's reflection—two fugitives framed by rain.

A knock broke the moment. Sharp, impatient.

Liam moved first, gun drawn, silent count of three before opening the door.

Rafe Lang stood there, expensive coat soaked through, club wristband still on.

"Relax, soldier," he said to Liam. "I'm here to help. Or at least to stop the bleeding before the city eats us all."

Ava's eyes narrowed. "Since when do you play savior?"

"Since the footage came from one of my club servers."

That landed. "Your system?" she asked.

"Someone tunneled through its last night. They wanted you exposed."

"Why tell me?"

"Because whoever wants you ruined is also coming for me."

Rafe dropped a flash drive on the counter. "This is what's left of the breach log. My tech says the signal bounced through six proxies. Last node, your firm's internal VPN."

Ava's chest went cold. "Then it's someone inside."

Liam's jaw tightened. "We find out who. Fast."

Rafe smirked, half amusement, half admiration. "You two make quite a pair. No wonder the city can't look away."

He left as abruptly as he came, leaving rain footprints on her floor and more questions than answers.

Ava sat on the sofa, flash drive in her palm. "If it really came through my firm, then they're either compromised or selling me out."

Liam crouched in front of her. "Which do you believe?"

She met his eyes. "Both."

Their closeness returned, heavy and unspoken. She reached up, brushed the wet strand of hair off his temple. His hand caught hers. The silence that followed was louder than the thunder outside.

He leaned forward just enough to test if she'd pull away. She didn't. The kiss they shared was slow, uncertain, an exhale of everything they'd been holding back. It lasted a heartbeat before she broke it with a whisper: "If we start this, we lose focus."

He smiled faintly. "Then we multitask."

The laptop chimed, a new encrypted message. Subject line: THE FILE ISN'T YOURS.

Attached: a still image from the hotel corridor, timestamped three minutes before the senator's death. In the corner, a faint reflection, someone watching from a mirror. Not Ava. Not Liam.

Her breath caught. "There was a third person in that room."

Liam straightened. "We find them, we find the killer."

"And whoever they work for," she said.

Outside, the rain finally stopped, leaving the streets clean but the air charged.

Ava closed the laptop. "We start with the firm."

Liam nodded. "After that?"

She looked toward the skyline where the clouds were breaking into light. "After that, we start with the truth."

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