Alicia had barely had time to process the cryptic message when Marco received a call that changed everything. He answered it with a grim look, his jaw tightening as he listened. The seconds stretched on like minutes before he hung up, his face drained of color.
Alicia, ever alert, noticed immediately. "What happened?" she asked, her voice sharp. The tension in the room was palpable.
"Evanna… she's gone."
Alicia's brow furrowed. "Gone? What do you mean gone?"
Marco turned, his eyes shadowed with a new urgency. "She's vanished. The network we've been using to track her… it's been completely wiped. Like she never existed." He paused, running a hand through his hair in frustration. "And that's not all."
Alicia stepped closer, her instincts kicking in. "What else?"
"The call I just got... It wasn't from one of our sources. It was from someone who knows everything—everything about the syndicate's operation. Someone who's been watching us from the inside. But here's the thing: the voice sounded familiar. Like I've heard it before."
Alicia's mind raced. Someone from the inside? The idea felt like a knife twisting in her gut. "Who was it?"
Marco shook his head. "I don't know. But they said they had information that would change everything. They want to meet. But here's the catch—if we go, we're walking right into a trap."
Alicia stared at him, weighing her options. A trap meant they were walking into the heart of enemy territory, risking everything they had. But if the information was real, it could also be the breakthrough they desperately needed.
"If they know everything, they could be our way in," Alicia said, her voice cold but calculating. "But we need to be careful. Who's behind this? And why are they playing games with us?"
Marco paused, his eyes flickering with something else—a shadow of doubt. "That's what worries me. We can't trust anyone now. But we don't have a choice. We need to find Evanna, and we need to know who's pulling the strings."
The decision was made. Alicia and Marco would go—together. But they both knew that once they walked into that meeting, everything they had worked for could come crashing down.