Chapter 31

Another day, another chapter!

I've made great progress this week: +5 chapters and >150K words. I'm currently on track to be content complete in September. October as a flex period for editing (I can already tell I'll need to make some changes to fix continuity in earlier chapters), then November for audio production. So, hopefully, a full launch before year-end.

A bit behind schedule, but I'm trying to make up for lost time!

In the meantime, enjoy!

Chapter 31 - Surveillance (CADY)

Suburban Construction Site

Cady

Cady had always prided herself on her ability to read people. It was a skill honed through years of navigating corporate boardrooms and church committees, where every smile could be a weapon and every handshake a trap.

So, when George’s “offer” to help had come wrapped in Ryan Vance’s watchful eyes, she’d known exactly what she was dealing with.

Surveillance. Amateur surveillance at that.

Ditching Ryan’s team had been almost insultingly easy. A few well-placed phone calls, a strategic lunch meeting with a former client, and a simple car swap – traditional combustion, of course. She couldn’t trust the driverless vehicles. They were just trackers on wheels.

Then, suddenly, she was a ghost.

Which was perfect, she thought as her car slid into an alleyway across from her target. Because she had a lead on who had broken into Cerillion Entertainment. And this might be her last chance to secure that data for herself—to save her sister and free her from that damnable game.

Or so she thought.

However, she wasn’t expecting this...

The construction site stretched out before her like a concrete cancer, growing with impossible speed across what had been a suburban neighborhood just a few weeks ago. She was certain of that. Satellite images didn’t lie. However, the scale defied logic.

This wasn’t some rinky-dink warehouse or office complex. This was industrial. Massive. The construction took up an entire block on this street and dwarfed even the palatial structure beside it – a squat concrete fortress in its own right.

Her brow furrowed in confusion. How was this possible? This kind of construction should have taken years, not days. She squinted, searching for any markings or logos, but the privacy fence was tall, blank, and plain—no developer sign, no construction company, nothing to betray any sign of ownership. It was weird.

Cady tapped her core, a display appearing in the air above her forearm as she double checked her notes. The investigation had started simple enough. She’d poured over the video footage from the night of the break-in. That’s how she’d caught them – a familiar group. Not their faces, but their shape, their body language. She would recognize the members of <Death and Taxes> anywhere… including the lobby of the Cerillion Entertainment headquarters building.

From there, she’d used her company resources. Discretely, of course. Robert still owed her.

That’s how she’d gotten a name for their leader.

Dominic Hart. A.k.a., Smiles.

The rest had been traditional oppo research. Former college football star. Early twenties. Everything had seemed to be going well, his socials were active – his grades were decent. Except Dom had abruptly dropped off the map a few months ago. Shortly after the release of AO.

His friends and family had been surprisingly tight-lipped when she’d posed as a freelance journalist doing a feel-good piece on college athletes. However, one of his former roommates had let it slip that he’d been experiencing “health issues.” He wasn’t living there anymore, however, and there was no forwarding address–she’d checked. So, Cady had called in a few more favors – not from the doctors, they could be an uptight, moralizing bunch. But everything went through insurance. And their ethics were a little looser.

Terminal cancer. Those words had flashed across her email.

Dom had started playing Awaken Online after a terminal cancer diagnosis. She’d had a brief, uncomfortable flicker of guilt at that point. Was that so different from her own situation? From her sister – the Fates? Yet, at the same time, could she afford to stop?

Maybe Dom would be uniquely suited to understand her problem, she rationalized.

However, that’s when the trail went cold. The insurance information stopped a few weeks back. Which was... interesting. It implied that either Dom had miraculously been cured, or, he’d found another way to pay for it. Thankfully, she was practiced at following the money. So, she shifted tactics. If he’d come into some cash from his in-game killer-for-hire work, then he would likely do what any twenty-something football star would do... make extravagant real estate purchases. And those were typically public information.

The shell company – Chaos Holdings, LLC – had been registered just six weeks ago. The land purchase had followed within days. Cash transaction. No loans, no financing. Just a clean transfer of ‘eight figures’ from an offshore account.

Apparently, his in-game mercenary act was lucrative. Incredibly lucrative.

But this... this wasn’t what she’d expected.

A mansion, sure. Sports cars, almost definitely. But a construction site that spanned a city block? With sturdy chain link fencing, topped with barbed wire and lined with privacy paneling? Walls that towered up over the street, blocking the view of the inside – only metal framing peaking over those barriers. This was a fortress.

Even more troubling was the speed. This shouldn’t be possible. The permits alone would have taken months, convincing all of those homeowners to sell even longer, much less this scale of construction. But the sale date was only a few weeks old, her notes confirmed it. Someone had clearly pushed the process through channels she didn’t know existed, and it wasn’t just money oiling the gears—the timing was far too tight

This would have taken connections.

“What is going on here?” she muttered, half to herself.

“I’d like to know that too.”

Cady spun, her hand instinctively reaching for the knife she kept concealed beneath her jacket–you could never be too careful. The voice had come from directly behind her. Impossible, given that she’d been watching her back religiously. Or, at least, she thought she had.

A young woman stepped out from behind a dumpster, arms crossed, a sardonic smile playing at her lips. Tattooed, pierced, with the confident posture that came from knowing exactly how dangerous you were. Cady had never met her before, and yet she was instantly familiar. She’d memorized a dossier on each of the other avatars. Which would make this–

Julia Harris. Finn’s daughter.

“Jesus Christ,” Cady breathed, her fingers relaxing slightly. “How long have you been—”

“Following you?” Julia’s grin widened. “Since you ditched Ryan’s boys at that restaurant downtown. Nice work, by the way. I was starting to think Cerillion only hired idiots, but it seems our new earth avatar has a brain on her shoulders.”

Cady’s composure snapped back into place instantly. Professional smile. Calculated confusion. “Earth avatar?” she asked, feigning ignorance, even as her heart thudded in her chest. Just how much did Julia know? What had her profile said again?

Young. Reckless. Tech specialist. Shit–

“We don’t need to play that game,” Julia replied evenly, stepping up beside her and eyeing the construction from the mouth of the alley. “We both know that you’re Arcadia Landrey, the earth avatar... and an employee of Cerillion Entertainment. Hired within the last year under ‘mysterious’ circumstances.”

Cady sniffed. So, they were playing ‘that’ game? No need to pretend then. The pretense melted away, her eyes sharp and focused, her hand still near her knife. “And you’ve been following me. How? I didn’t notice you...”

She trailed off as Julia’s grin widened. A trio of drones floated down into the alley without warning, barely making a soft whir. “I used my toys.”

Cady liked her already.

“Clever,” she murmured.

She could also think of some other uses for those drones...

Maybe it was time to switch gears – luckily, Cady had always been flexible. “You think I stole the data from Cerillion Entertainment.”

Not a question; not exactly. Just a logical deduction. Why else would Julia be here?

“Seems likely. Shady hiring situation – you were just about to make partner at your previous firm, weren’t you? And why would George need a corporate assassin-ahh, sorry ‘consultant.’ I always get those confused,” Julia drawled, with a ghost of a grin. “I looked into you, but found something interesting... nothing. Nothing at all. That never happens. There are always travel records, credit card statements, receipts. But, in your case, there’s just a void.”

Julia’s eyes gleamed. “Which means you have something to hide.”

Cady’s eyes narrowed, her finger discreetly tapping her core to record the conversation. “Are you admitting to hacking my bank accounts?”

Finn’s daughter’s eyes danced with amusement. “Entrapment? Really? And here I thought we were already friends.”

Yeah, she really liked her. Cady heaved out a sigh and raised her hands. “Fine. So, you suspect me because I’m a secretive person. That rules out... well, only half the country.”

“Does that same half also have means and motive?” Julia shrugged. “Or show up outside my dad’s house?”

Cady’s eyes widened – just a fraction. She’d made another rare mistake. Her gaze flicked to that concrete bunker beside the construction. She hadn’t thought to cross reference this address with the other avatars. She’d actually written Finn off. He’d been brooding and unresponsive in-game, not the sort of reaction she expected from a man that had just committed successful corporate espionage. Unless he was faking?

Shit. Shit, shit, shit.

Julia was also too damn perceptive. Her smile faded. “Hmm, the drones indicate your pulse is elevated. You didn’t know, did you?” Her brow scrunched. “So, then, why are you here?”

Cady considered her options. Julia was clearly skilled – tracking her without detection wasn’t trivial. She was also Finn’s daughter, which made her motive crystal-fucking-clear. She was looking for her mom, for Rachael’s data. And if Cady played this right, they might actually be on the same side. This meeting also implied that Eliza had been working with other people – possibly Julia and Finn... which explained the fire avatar’s reaction.

Her thoughts were racing ahead, planning, plotting. Drawing connections from the videos she’d seen online. And then all of those future timelines collapsed into one perfect path.

She needed to do something she hated: she needed to tell the truth.

“I’m looking for the same thing you are,” Cady said quietly, meeting Julia’s gaze directly. “I’m trying to find who stole that data from Eliza. And my guess? Your father doesn’t know you’re here, does he?”

It was Julia’s turn to scowl at her

Cady pressed the advantage. “My theory is that the person who bought that property was behind the theft,” she continued, pointing at the construction site where heavy machinery whirred and clanked. “The fact that they’re building right beside your father’s house doesn’t look good, does it? It implies one of two things. Either your father is clueless... or he’s complicit.”

Julia’s face went carefully blank, but the drones overhead shifted position, their sensors clearly tracking elevated stress markers from both women.

“My guess is that Finn doesn’t know you’re here either – not if the videos of him brutally murdering his way through the Mile High Club arena are any indication,” Cady continued, watching Julia’s reaction carefully.

She let out a grunt of acknowledgement. “I don’t think my father is involved in this. He’s never been a good liar. And he was genuinely upset after–well, you know. He’s not good at processing his own emotions. After—after mom passed, he basically disappeared into his work. And now he’s doing it again. He’s basically iced me out...”

Her fingers curled into fists, Julia’s eyes flashing. “But I refuse to give up, so I’ve been investigating on my own. He mentioned construction, but didn’t explain... all of this,” she muttered, waving at the construction. “Knowing him, he hasn’t actually looked outside in days.”

That explanation strangely made sense.

“Well, then I have a proposition,” Cady offered. “Why don’t we work together?”

Julia huffed out a laugh. “Says the woman who didn’t know she was being followed.”

Cady’s smile just widened. “But she might know other things... like who owns that property,” she offered, pointing at the construction. “His name is Dominique Hart. I think you know him as Smiles.”

Julia froze, her mental wheels spinning, connecting the dots. “And Eliza and Finn are–”

She broke off. She didn’t need to say it, Cady had already reached the same deduction.

They were all trying to talk to the same person.

Julia’s gaze snapped back to Cady. “And you think that Smiles is behind this?”

She just shrugged. “Unclear. But it’s a lead... and it might help if someone were to look over that fence line,” Cady added, motioning toward the drones. “That might give us more information.”

“And what’s in this for you?” Julia insisted, still suspicious. “Why do you care?”

“Does that matter?” Cady shot back. “After all, we clearly both want to know what’s really going on here. For now, our interests align. That’s enough. So, what do you say?”

A few seconds ticked past as Julia processed and then—

The drones whirred softly and darted up, up, up – until they were only specks high above.

At the same time, Julia tapped her core. It wasn’t a conventional device; wasn’t a consumer product. This was industrial. A custom-crafted piece of tech that projected not just a single screen but a whole workstation. At the same time, Julia’s left eye flickered, the iris pulsing with a soft blue light.

“Ocular implants? I thought they were outlawed–”

She cut off as Julia glared at her. “Really? You want to talk about legality right now?”

That earned her a soft smile. “Fair enough. What do you see?”

Julia didn’t answer, just tapped at the screens, pivoting one.  It showed an aerial view of the construction, a sprawling underground excavation far deeper than what was visible from street level, with multiple levels of concrete framework already in place. Heavy machinery moved through the lower levels like ants in a colony, their purpose unclear but their coordination suggesting this was no ordinary construction project. Most were manned by drones. Only a skeleton crew of human workers – likely to avoid witnesses.

A tap and a swipe of Julia’s fingers and the view shifted to show the dense cabling and fiber optic networks being installed throughout the excavation, far more sophisticated than any residential or commercial building would require. Another swipe revealed staging areas filled with equipment Cady didn’t recognize—sleek, metallic devices that looked more like server farms than construction equipment.

“What is that?” Cady asked, peering close.

“Telecommunications cabling,” Julia murmured, her enhanced eye tracking the intricate network patterns below. “They appear to be tapping into the local network. This looks more like a hi-tech data center than a residential project.” A section of the structure was highlighted in glowing blue on the display. “This section also appears to be the housing for a small reactor. For example, here’s the wastewater and exhaust infrastructure.”

She grimaced. “Whatever they’re building, it’s designed to handle massive amounts of network traffic and run off grid. Once this thing is complete, it’s going to be a fortress.”

Her gaze skimmed to Finn’s much more petite bunker. “And this is coming from a family of tech recluses.”

“Wait, stop right there,” Cady urged suddenly, pointing at the screen. Most of the vehicles were unmarked – the walls unadorned. But she caught one man wearing what appeared to be a uniform, an emblem on his jacket.

Julia homed in on him immediately, snapping a quick photo before he stepped out of line of sight. She then blew up the image and upscaled. The logo was three interlocking hexagons.

“I don’t recognize this,” Julia murmured. “I can do a search—”

“No need,” Cady interjected. “Because I do.”

“That’s Nexus Dynamics, a subsidiary of St. Clair holdings.”

“How do you know that?” Julia offered, suspicion shining in her eyes again.

Cady swallowed hard. The answer likely wouldn’t make her feel any better. “Because I assisted in its formation. In fact, it was my idea. I pitched it to Bran St. Clair himself.”

Nearly a year ago, just before George’s lackey Francis had approached her...

“St. Clair? You mean like Evelyn’ St. Clair?” Julia demanded.

Cady’s grim expression was answer enough.

“Shit,” Julia muttered.

Shit, indeed. Cady could feel her stomach lurch, her mind spinning. The questions just kept piling up. A break-in, a dead wife, parents with a hidden agenda, an athlete with a terminal diagnosis and way too much money, and now this... this connection to a major rival of Cerillion Entertainment? One she’d specifically advised to ramp up their telecommunications infrastructure. Which was now being used to build... whatever this was supposed to be.

“What the hell is going on?” Julia murmured.

Which was a really good fucking question.

One Cady intended to answer.