Lynn stared at the photo of Kayden, heart pounding — not from fear, but from fury.
> "He's playing dirty now," Michael said.
Lynn handed him the phone. "Check the metadata. Where and when it was taken."
Lwandile leaned in. "This is bait."
> "Exactly," Lynn muttered. "And he expects me to take it. To come running blind."
But Lynn never played on emotion. She played on leverage.
> "If Mokoena thinks he's the only one who can set a trap," she whispered, "he's about to learn."
They got to work fast. Lwandile traced the photo's IP bounce-back trail — routed through five servers, two of them in Eastern Europe.
> "Sloppy," Lwandile smirked. "He rushed this."
The photo had been taken two hours ago — at a car wash in Broadhurst, Gaborone. Lynn's brother wasn't being held hostage yet. He was being watched. Followed. They still had time.
> "Michael, get Kayden out. Quietly. No guns. No drama. Just disappear him."
> "And you?" he asked.
Lynn smiled, sharp and cold.
> "I'm going to give Mokoena a show."
That night, Lynn leaked an anonymous message on a dark web forum Mokoena's people monitored.
> "I'm coming for my brother. Alone. Unarmed. You want me — you'll have me."
Mokoena took the bait. His men set up an ambush at a warehouse near the station. What they didn't know?
Lynn wasn't coming. Michael and Kayden were already crossing the border into South Africa with fake passports.
Instead, Lynn sent a drone, fitted with a high-range mic and live camera feed. The whole setup — the goons, the threats, the guns — was broadcasted silently to a private server.
> "Smile, boys," Lynn whispered from a safehouse. "You're on camera."
The next morning, every news outlet received an encrypted file.
> "EXCLUSIVE: Evidence of attempted kidnapping by political allies of Mokoena."
Screenshots. Faces. Audio. Locations.
By noon, the police had no choice but to launch an investigation. Sponsors began dropping Mokoena's campaign. His name was now tied to organized crime.
Mokoena screamed at his team.
> "She flipped it! She used us!"
Back in the safehouse, Kayden hugged Lynn tightly.
> "You saved me," he whispered.
She pulled back, face calm.
> "No, Kay. I protected the mission. We're not done yet."