Chapter 15 – The Ghost in the Machine
The air in the motel room was thick with tension. The burner phone Adrian had pulled from Reddington's body sat on the table, its black screen reflecting the dim light overhead.
Evelyn stared at it, her pulse hammering. That cryptic message— Wrong target—had changed everything.
Reddington wasn't the real mastermind.
They had killed a pawn.
And the king was still watching.
Adrian sat beside her, his jaw clenched. He had spent years hunting down the man he thought was responsible for his suffering, only to learn that he had been playing someone else's game all along.
Evelyn exhaled. "So what now?"
Adrian's storm-gray eyes flickered toward the phone. "We find out who sent that message."
---
The Hacker's Den
Cipher was exactly the kind of person Evelyn expected Adrian to know—paranoid, sharp, and completely unpredictable.
The hacker lived in an abandoned subway station, his workspace cluttered with monitors, wires, and half-eaten energy bars. The glow from his screens cast eerie shadows across his unshaven face.
"You brought me something fun, huh?" Cipher grinned, rolling his chair closer as Adrian placed the phone on his desk.
"Crack it," Adrian ordered.
Cipher cracked his knuckles. "Give me five minutes."
Evelyn crossed her arms. "Is that possible?"
Cipher smirked. "Darling, I once hacked the Pentagon in four."
She wasn't sure if he was joking.
His fingers danced over the keyboard, bypassing encryption layers at a dizzying speed. The phone's screen flickered, and lines of code scrolled past. Then—
Cipher's smirk vanished.
Adrian caught it instantly. "What?"
Cipher exhaled sharply. "This isn't a normal phone. It's still connected to a live network."
Evelyn's stomach twisted. "Meaning?"
Cipher turned, his eyes serious. "Meaning… the second I started hacking it, they knew we were here."
A cold silence filled the air.
Then—
The sound of tires screeching outside.
Adrian moved first, pulling his gun. "We've got company."
---
The Ambush
The first bullet shattered a monitor behind Cipher.
Evelyn hit the ground as gunfire erupted. Adrian flipped the table for cover, returning fire in quick, precise bursts.
Cipher scrambled for his laptop. "Give me two minutes, and I can fry the signal!"
"We don't have two minutes!" Adrian snapped, ducking as another shot ricocheted off the metal beams overhead.
Evelyn's adrenaline surged. They were trapped, and their enemies weren't playing around.
Her eyes darted to an old service tunnel behind Cipher's setup. "That way!" she shouted.
Adrian fired three more shots before grabbing Cipher by the collar. "Move!"
They sprinted into the tunnel, their footsteps echoing. Behind them, the gunmen stormed the hacker's den, but Cipher hit a switch—explosives rigged to his equipment detonated, sending flames roaring through the subway.
The blast shook the ground as they ran deeper into the tunnels, escaping into the city's underground maze.
They had survived.
But now, the enemy knew they were coming.
And that meant they had no choice but to strike first.
---
The Next Move
Hours later, inside a remote cabin hidden deep in the woods, Adrian and Evelyn finally stopped running.
Cipher, bruised but grinning, held up a flash drive. "Managed to pull some data before the fireworks."
Adrian took it. "What's on it?"
Cipher's smile faded. "Coordinates. To The Hollow."
Evelyn stiffened. "That's their base?"
Cipher nodded. "Not just a base. It's their headquarters. And judging by the encryption levels, the real leader of Orion's Circle is waiting for you there."
Adrian exchanged a glance with Evelyn.
They had spent years chasing ghosts.
Now, they finally had a target.
Adrian exhaled. "Then we end this."
Evelyn nodded. "Together."
As Cipher packed up, Adrian pulled Evelyn aside. His fingers brushed against hers, grounding himself in her presence.
"You don't have to come," he murmured.
Evelyn gave him a look. "Don't be stupid. I'm not leaving you now."
Adrian's lips twitched.
For the first time in years, he wasn't fighting alone.
And tomorrow, they would walk into the lion's den together.
Because the hunt wasn't over.
It had only just begun.