I didn't bother responding. Instead, I offered a dry chuckle and locked eyes with the man standing beside Joanna.
"You seem awfully nervous about her retrieving those files, Matthew. Guilty conscience about what really happened back then?"
Matthew's face went rigid. "Bullshit!" His voice cracked. "Why would I have a guilty conscience?"
Joanna frowned. "Matt, back off. This is my business."
"But Joanna—"
"I said back off." She cut him dead. "Today, I'm going to crush this bastard until he's begging on his knees."
Matthew opened his mouth to argue, but seeing the manic determination in her eyes, he swallowed his words and stepped back. His hand slipped into his pocket. Under the table, his fingers flew across his phone screen.
He was messaging his people to destroy the evidence.
He thought he was being subtle. Flawless, even.
What he didn't know was that I never walked into a war zone unprepared. My team was already inside the system. The moment his people tried to delete a single byte, mine would intercept it.
Oblivious to the digital warfare behind the scenes, Joanna turned her glare back to Lucy. Her eyes held a toxic mix of stubbornness and resentment.