Lagos was humid. The kind of heat that clung to your skin like secrets.
The Gulf air carried smells of salt, fish, and street spice both comforting and foreboding. But Elias Thorne formerly Mr. Dime wasn't here for comfort.
He was here for war.
The black SUV wove through Obalende traffic. Jude sat beside Elias, arm in a sling, his face pale but defiant.
"Why here?" Jude muttered. "Why Lagos?"
"Because Operation NOX started here," Elias replied, eyes fixed on the road. "And if the files are accurate… it ends here too."
"And if it's a trap?"
Elias glanced over, lips curled faintly.
"Then we spring it first."
They arrived at an abandoned compound on the outskirts of Victoria Island.
Once a high-end data storage center for Duchesse Africa. Now, silent. Shuttered.
A single woman waited inside. She wore a deep green gele and a perfectly pressed cream blazer. Her eyes were tired, but sharp.
"I am Mrs. Oluremi Ajani, former vice-president of African operations for Duchesse," she said.
Elias didn't blink. "Who was the mole?"
Mrs. Ajani stepped forward, unzipped a folder, and handed him a grainy photo.
It was a young man, standing beside a golden elevator. Face tattooed. Eyes dead.
"His name was Boma Ekene. Recruited by Valerie Dexter personally. NOX was his project. Yours was the cover."
Later that night, Elias and Jude met the Jackal a notorious fixer who brokered war deals in Congo, data trades in Sudan, and presidential secrets in Senegal.
He sipped palm wine from a bronze cup.
"NOX isn't just blackmail," he explained. "It's insurance. For the rich. For the untouchables. They've got secrets stored across three continents. If someone falls, the rest trigger their vaults."
Elias leaned in. "And where's the switch?"
The Jackal chuckled. "That's the thing. There is no switch. Only a name."
"What name?"
The Jackal's eyes narrowed.
"Magritte."
Back in Geneva, Magritte stared at her reflection in a full-length mirror. Her fingers trembled slightly as she opened a black velvet box.
Inside was a key.
Ancient. Brass. The same one Elias had found carved on the inside of his ring two chapters ago.
She took out her phone.
To: Elias
Message: "Meet me. We need to talk. Don't bring Jude. Come alone."
Location: Vienna, Austria.
She hesitated. Then hit send.
At the Vault Café in Lekki, Elias waited alone as thunder rolled over the lagoon.
Mrs. Ajani arrived again but not alone.
Behind her, handcuffed and guarded, was Lewis.
Elias stood.
"You brought him?"
"He confessed," Mrs. Ajani replied.
Lewis looked up, face bruised.
"I didn't betray you, Elias. I tried to protect you. Magritte gave me the drive."
Elias's heart skipped.
"You're saying… Magritte planned the NOX leaks?"
Lewis nodded.
"She's not who you think she is."
That night, Elias broke into a former Duchesse intelligence hub beneath Banana Island.
Inside were servers. Cold air. Silence.
One computer blinked to life as he inserted the key Magritte once gave him months ago.
And there it was Operation NOX.
A network of 72 names.
Presidents. Bankers. Military officers. Valerie Dexter. Landon Crick. Even a name Elias didn't recognize at first,
Remy Thorne.
His mother.
Elias stepped back.
And then…
The screens all went black.
One line blinked across the dark.
"Too late, Elias."
"NOX has already activated.
Simultaneously, explosions rang out in Vienna.
The hotel Magritte had booked was gone.
Elias' burner phone rang.
It was Sienne.
"They got her, Elias. She's gone. They think she's dead."
But Elias didn't believe it.
Because deep down, he knew…
Magritte had vanished before and returned more dangerous. Now?
She might be the one pulling every string.