Brooklyn stepped out of Gabriella Hamilton's house, the night air biting against her sweat-slick skin. The weight of what she had just done clung to her chest, heavy and suffocating but her stride didn't falter. She pulled the front door shut behind her and moved down the walkway toward the dark outline of Ryan's parked SUV.
Ryan was already outside the vehicle, leaning against the hood with his rifle slung over his shoulder.
He pushed himself upright as Brooklyn approached. "Well?" he asked, voice low, controlled. "You got the name of the one above it all?"
Brooklyn paused for just a second, eyes hard, then spoke evenly. "Tell me… you ever heard of Langston Corp?"
The color drained slightly from his face, his expression tightening. "Langston Corp?" He let the words hang in the cold air before continuing. "They're the ones calling the shots?"
Brooklyn holstered her weapon, her tone clipped but certain. "That's what we should be finding out."
"Alright, let's head back for now." he said.
The drive back to the safehouse was a silent one. The road ahead stretched endlessly, headlights carving tunnels of light through the dark. Brooklyn sat in the passenger seat, arms crossed, gaze fixed out the window.
Ryan kept his focus on the road, knuckles white against the steering wheel. He wanted to ask what had happened in that bedroom, wanted to ask how far Brooklyn had gone to pull that name out of Gabriella. But the coldness in her eyes told him this wasn't the time.
When they finally pulled up to Tyrone's safehouse, the SUV's tires crunching against gravel, the silence followed them out of the car like a shadow.
Tyrone was sprawled on the couch when they stepped inside, one leg thrown over the armrest, cleaning his pistol with a rag. Maya sat at the table, laptop open, her fingers dancing across the keys.
The moment the door shut behind them, Tyrone looked up, smirk tugging at his lips. "Whoa..
" he said, raising his brows. "You guys look like you're about to eat each other alive... is there something we should know?"
Brooklyn ignored the jab, stripping off her jacket and tossing it onto the arm of a chair. "Do either of you know Langston Corp?"
Tyrone tilted his head, his expression shifting from amusement to curiosity.
"Langston Corp?" he repeated, setting his pistol down on the coffee table. "Yeah, I know them. What about it?"
"They're the ones behind this." Brooklyn said flatly.
Tyrone's brow furrowed. He leaned back into the couch, his tone skeptical. "That's strange."
Brooklyn's eyes snapped toward him. "What's strange?"
Tyrone scratched at the stubble on his jaw. "Langston Corp is a tech company. Producing next gen laptops, computers and phones... the kind of stuff we used to see in movies as kids."
Maya finally closed her laptop, leaning forward with her elbows on the table. Her voice was steady but edged with suspicion. "What the hell is a tech company doing tangled up in the military stuff? Let alone a covert op like Sky Sintel?"
For a moment, no one had an answer. The only sound was the faint hum of the fridge in the corner and the ticking of Tyrone's watch against the table.
Ryan broke the silence, his voice calm but firm. "Well, that's our job to find out."
Tyrone leaned forward, elbows on his knees. "So what's the play now? You gonna storm their headquarters, Captain?"
Brooklyn shot him a look sharp enough to make him smirk again but there was no humor in her eyes. "If that's where the trail leads..." she said coldly, "then yeah."
Maya's voice cut in, sharp, measured. "We can't just walk into a million dollar company guns blazing. We need intel first, something that ties them directly to Sky Sintel."
Ryan nodded in agreement. "Maya's right. We can't make a blind move. We dig first, confirm and then we move."
Brooklyn clenched her jaw but said nothing, pacing the room instead.
Tyrone picked up his pistol again, twirling it casually before setting it back down. "Well..." he said, voice carrying a lazy edge, "looks like the game just got a whole lot bigger."
Brooklyn stopped pacing, her eyes locking with Ryan's. There was no fear in her gaze, only resolve. "Bigger game or not..." she said quietly. "If Langston Corp's the one pulling the strings…" She tightened her fists. "Then they're the ones I'm cutting down next."
Ryan exhaled, shaking his head with a mix of worry and reluctant respect. "God help us." he muttered under his breath.