The safe house was eerily quiet the next morning. Blair leaned against the kitchen counter, staring at the cracked screen of her phone—yet another casualty of last night’s failed mission. Her thoughts were jumbled, but one thing was clear: they were running out of time. Specter was still out there, Vincent was closing in, and Leo’s presence complicated everything. 
Lena walked in, her steps light but deliberate. She’d resumed her role as the public face of Whales Inc., but her eyes betrayed the toll it was taking. “Blair,” she said softly, setting a mug of coffee on the counter. “We need a new plan.” 
Blair sighed. “We had Specter right in front of us, and he still got away. How are we supposed to outmaneuver someone like that?” 
“We don’t need to outmaneuver him,” Lena replied. “We just need to make him come to us.” 
The team gathered around the living room table, Lena’s suggestion sparking new life into their strategy. 
Maya was skeptical. “You’re saying we lure Specter out by making ourselves a target? That’s suicide.” 
“No,” Lena countered. “It’s strategy. He’s a professional—if we give him a high-profile job that’s too tempting to resist, he’ll come to us.” 
Jax leaned back in his chair, arms crossed. “And what happens when he does? Last time, he almost took us all out.” 
Blair’s voice cut through the debate. “We’ll be ready. Lena’s right—this is our best chance to get him before Vincent or Leo makes their next move.” 
Maya hesitated, then nodded. “Okay. But we’ll need bait. Something—or someone—he can’t ignore.” 
All eyes turned to Blair.
In a dimly lit room across the city, Leo stood before Vincent, his expression hard. “Specter failed,” he said bluntly. 
Vincent chuckled, swirling his glass of whiskey. “Specter doesn’t fail. He just adjusts. And so will we.” 
Leo’s jaw tightened. “I’m tired of these games. If you want Blair gone, let me do it myself.” 
Vincent’s smile faded, his tone turning icy. “You’re too emotional, Leo. That’s your weakness. Specter’s methodical—he’ll finish the job when the time is right.” 
Leo turned away, but not before Vincent caught the flicker of doubt in his eyes.
The team’s plan unfolded quickly. Using a forged identity, Maya crafted a fake contract, offering Specter an obscene amount of money to eliminate a fictional target—an arms dealer supposedly staying in a luxury penthouse downtown. 
Lena posed as the “client,” feeding information into dark web channels until the bait was set. 
“This is risky,” Jax muttered as they loaded their gear into a van parked outside the penthouse. “What if he figures out it’s a trap?” 
“He won’t,” Maya replied confidently. “He’s too greedy to pass this up.” 
Blair double-checked her equipment, her face set with determination. “We stick to the plan. No improvisation. If we miss this chance, we might not get another.”
Night fell, and the penthouse was shrouded in darkness. Blair and Jax took up positions in an adjacent building, their sniper rifles trained on the target’s supposed location. Lena stayed behind to monitor communications, while Maya worked to disable the building’s security cameras. 
Hours passed in tense silence. Then, a shadow moved across the rooftop. 
“Target spotted,” Jax whispered into his comms. 
Blair steadied her rifle, her heart pounding as she focused on the figure. Specter was dressed in all black, his movements eerily silent as he approached the penthouse window. 
“Wait for my signal,” Blair said. 
Specter paused, scanning the area. For a moment, Blair thought he might have spotted their trap. But then he moved again, slipping through the window with practiced ease. 
“Now,” Blair ordered. 
Jax fired first, shattering the glass. Specter dodged with inhuman reflexes, rolling into a crouch and pulling out twin pistols. Blair fired next, aiming for his legs, but he was too fast. 
The penthouse erupted into chaos as Specter fought back, his shots precise and deadly. Blair and Jax struggled to keep him pinned, but he moved like a phantom, always one step ahead. 
“Maya!” Blair shouted into her comms. “Lock the exits!” 
“I’m trying!” Maya’s voice crackled back. “He’s overriding the system!” 
Specter made a break for the rooftop, his silhouette barely visible against the night sky. Blair pursued him, her adrenaline pumping. 
“Stop!” she shouted, aiming her rifle. 
Specter turned, his face obscured by a mask. For a split second, their eyes met. Then he threw a smoke grenade, disappearing into the darkness. 
Blair coughed, her vision blurred as the smoke cleared. Specter was gone. 
Back at the safe house, the team regrouped, their faces grim. 
“We had him,” Jax said, slamming his fist on the table. “We had him, and he still got away.” 
Blair sank into a chair, her head in her hands. “We need to rethink everything. He’s not just some hitman—he’s a ghost. And now he knows we’re hunting him.” 
Maya pulled up a screen, her expression thoughtful. “Not entirely true. I managed to plant a tracker on him before he disappeared. It’s faint, but it might lead us to his next move.” 
Blair looked up, hope flickering in her eyes. “Good work, Maya. Let’s not waste it.” 
Meanwhile, Leo sat alone in a dark room, staring at his phone. A photo of Blair filled the screen, a painful reminder of everything they’d lost. 
“She’s not the enemy,” he muttered to himself. “She’s not.” 
But Vincent’s voice echoed in his mind, drowning out his doubts. “She’ll destroy you if you don’t destroy her first.” 
Torn between loyalty and love, Leo made a decision. He would face Blair himself—one final time.