Kai kept replaying the moment she appeared on the rooftop. The way her eyes met his through the scope for half a second before she vanished again.
He didn’t mention that part to Lian.
Lian didn’t say a word. She had that posture she always got after missions that went sideways, chin slightly lowered, focus narrowed to whatever was in front of her. She wasn’t upset, but she was wound tight.
Kai finally broke the silence.
“You saw her too, right?”
Lian didn’t look at him. “Yes.”
“Good. Thought maybe my head was just inventing terrifying women tonight.”
He expected her to at least smirk. Nothing.
“So,” he continued, “you wanna talk about how she moved like she was—”
“No.”
He blinked. “No as in no, or no as in drop it?”
“Drop it for now.”
He let out a breath. “Okay. But she was definitely not local talent. Nobody here moves like that.”
Lian slowed her pace a little, but her face stayed unreadable. “She was watching us. Not the target. Not the trafficker. Us.”
“So we’re interesting now.”
“We were already interesting,” she said quietly. “Tonight just confirmed it.”
They crossed the street, weaving between two parked vans, and climbed the narrow stairs to the safehouse. The metal door groaned when Lian unlocked it. Inside, the room looked the same as when they left it—dim light, mismatched chairs, a cot in the corner, Kai’s equipment scattered like it had sprouted legs and wandered.
Kai dropped his bag on the table. “You think she’s the one who left the flare on the rooftop? That signal thing?”
Lian removed her gloves one finger at a time. “Possibly. Whoever she is, she’s trained.”
Kai turned to look at her. “So you are thinking about it.”
“Of course I’m thinking about it,” she said. “I’m just not speculating.”
He flopped into a chair. “Speculating is half the fun.”
“For you maybe.”
She sat across from him, crossing her arms. Her eyes stayed on the wall for a moment before shifting to him again.
“Kai,” she said, voice softer, “you hesitated tonight.”
That made his shoulders stiffen. He looked down at the table. “I know.”
“You’re not usually shaken like that.”
He rubbed at his jaw. “I’m fine.”
She didn’t call him out, didn’t push further. Lian was good at giving him space when he needed it. Maybe too good.
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He cleared his throat. “What about you? You were quiet the whole way back.”
“Just thinking.”
“About her?”
Lian leaned back in the chair. For a moment she seemed almost tired. “People don’t watch us unless they want something. Either she’s scouting or she’s assessing.”
“Like… sizing us up?”
Lian nodded.
Kai sat more upright. “Okay but she didn’t shoot us. She could have.”
“I know.”
“Which means she wasn’t there to kill us.”
Lian shook her head.
He frowned. “You sound very sure.”
“I’m sure of what I saw.”
See, this was the part Kai hated. When she switched into that calm mode where danger was just another detail to file away. He wished she would at least look rattled. It would make him feel less ridiculous for still thinking about the woman’s eyes.
He opened the laptop and began sorting through the surveillance they pulled earlier. “I got some footage.”
Lian rose and walked to stand beside him. She leaned down, arms crossed, watching the screen. Kai scrubbed through timestamp after timestamp until he paused at the moment the figure landed on the ledge across from them.
Even in silhouette she looked dangerous. Balanced. Like gravity didn’t apply the same way to her.
“There,” Kai said. “Look at that landing. She barely makes a sound.”
Lian hummed in acknowledgment. “Zoom out.”
“What? Why?”
“Just do it.”
He rolled his eyes but obeyed. The zoomed-out view showed the building, the rooftop structures, and—
“There,” Lian said. She pointed at the far corner. “She came from there.”
Kai squinted. “That’s a huge leap.”
“She made it.”
“You don’t know that.”
Lian gave him a patient look. “I know the distance. I know the angles. And I know someone who moves like she does won’t choose the obvious path.”
He nodded slowly. “Okay. So she’s acrobatic, skilled, non-hostile for now, and she knows we exist.”
“She also knows we’re efficient.”
Kai grimaced. “You think she saw you take down the guard by the stairs?”
“I imagine she saw everything.”
He let out a low groan. “Great. So if she ever writes a performance review, it’s going to be painfully detailed.”
That made Lian chuckle, just barely. “Probably.”
Kai watched her expression shift again. Thoughtful. Not tense anymore but focused in that way she had when solving something.
“What are you thinking now?” he asked.
“That she didn’t approach us directly,” Lian said. “If she wanted to talk, she would have.”
“Or maybe she’s shy.”
“Kai,” she said, giving him that look that meant don’t be ridiculous.
He raised his hands. “I’m just saying. Could be shy. Could be cautious. Could be mysterious. Could be—”
“She could be associated with LSK.”
Kai’s words stopped mid-sentence. He stared at her. “You really think so?”
“I think we just faced a ring tied to LSK. I think people don’t appear out of thin air. And I think her timing was precise.”
Kai felt his pulse spike again, but he kept his tone even. “Well, she didn’t act like the psychos they usually send.”
“No,” Lian agreed. “She didn’t.”
They sat in silence for a moment. The ceiling fan hummed. Outside, a bus hissed to a stop.
Kai leaned back. “So what now?”
Lian looked toward the window, as if expecting someone to be out there watching. “Now we stay alert. That’s all.”
“That’s it?”
“That’s it.”
Kai stretched his arms above his head.
Lian set a hand lightly on his shoulder. “Try to sleep for a few hours. I’ll keep watch for now.”
He frowned. “You sure?”
“Yes.”
Kai hesitated but eventually stood. “If she shows up again, wake me. Don’t be noble about it.”
“I won’t.”
He paused near the cot. “Hey… Lian?”
She looked over.
“You’re not worried, right?”
Her face softened, almost imperceptibly. “Not yet.”
He nodded and lay down, closing his eyes. But even with exhaustion creeping in, he still saw her silhouette on the rooftop.
