Page 116 of Only the Hunter

At the airport, she questioned whether we needed to share a ride. Then asked if I was coming back with her. Not “to” her place—“with” her.

I didn’t give her a choice about the ride—more fuel on a fire.

The confirmation screen loads. Evie takes a screenshot of the page with the confirmation number and prints it for her records.

“Done,” she says quietly.

“Yeah.”

She doesn’t turn around. Doesn’t address the suitcase downstairs or what happens now.

“You mind if I use this office to call the team?”

“Feel free. I’m going to get a quick shower. Get the plane off me.”

It’s been one long travel day.

She stands, moves past me—careful not to touch—and disappears into her bedroom.

The door closes.

Not an invitation. Not a dismissal.

Just...closed.

I pull out my phone and dial Hudson.

“It’s done. The complaint is filed.”

“Copy that. I’ve got Quinn here. We’re monitoring communications.”

“Yeah, about that. Evie wasn’t so thrilled that we leveraged ARGUS. We have to keep in mind what we find through that isn’t admissible—unless we find workarounds to the information.”

“We’re just using it to see who talks to who. Our list of suspects is growing. Also, Rhodes came through with an FBI resource we can trust.”

“He’s positive?”

“He is. We’ll wait a beat until it’s necessary to call on him,” Hudson says.

“He’s from the corruption unit,” Quinn offers. “Special Agent Asbury. Rhodes believes in him, but he did survive the mass cutting of the department.”

“So you don’t trust him?”

“When a group like public corruption gets decimated, one has to wonder about the ones who remain,” she says. “But there’s no connection to Meridian—that I could find.”

“We’ll set up a meeting with Evie,” Hudson says.

The mention sets me at attention. “The whole team is on this, right?”

“You asking for round the clock security?” Hudson asks.

“At a minimum. But I’m expecting a lot more than that. When you pitched KOAN to me, you said we’re looking to identify corruption that flies below the radar. To get the people that believe they’re above justice. Well, this is the case. It’s a human trafficking ring. The worst of the worst. And yes, some of the players aren’t stateside, but US officials are providing cover. Let’s use our resources. Find them all. Nail them.” Because if even one of them comes after her again⁠—

“We’re all in,” Hudson says.

“And we’re making headway,” Quinn says. “But we need to start narrowing our list of suspects.”

“Agree,” I say, breathing a little easier with Hudson’s reassurance. “Who’s on the list?” They’ve been working while we’ve been traveling. I’m curious to see what they’ve found.