Chapter 25 Summary

At the FBI office late into the evening, Javon Morris eats a quiet meal at his desk while reviewing new developments in the Walter Jenkins case. Email analysis reveals Jenkins’s last message had been sent from Florence, Italy, shortly after he arrived there on vacation. Yet the message was addressed to an unidentified Hotmail account, leaving its recipient a mystery. With Jenkins’s whereabouts still uncertain, whether alive, captive, or dead, Javon drafts an urgent message to the FBI’s Rome office, specifically to Special Agent Angelina Bernardi, requesting assistance in tracking Jenkins’s movements after Florence. He hopes that the time zone differences will allow for progress by morning.

Meanwhile, at the Hyatt Regency, Tony Russell arranges to meet Jennifer Bennett for drinks and dinner. After a brief call to her room, they meet in the hotel’s bar, where their casual conversation drifts from the Jenkins case to more personal details. Jennifer shares her family background and love of sailing, while Tony speaks about his Seattle upbringing, passion for flying, and constant battle against corporations like GenaSeed. Their evening continues with a planned dinner at Luigi’s Trattoria. As they stroll through the warm night toward the restaurant, their connection deepens, marked by an unspoken yet evident attraction.

Chapter 24 Summary

Jeffrey Kruger quietly finishes his covert search through Jenkins’s vacation emails, then calls Special Agent Javon Morris to say he’s forwarded the messages. Javon discovers an email indicating that Jenkins suspected he was being followed, sent to a Hotmail account whose owner Javon needs to identify. Javon forwards that email to the FBI Technical Forensics team and asks his local IT department to retrieve routing metadata, hoping a header trace will reveal the message's origin and provide the investigation with a fresh lead.

Meanwhile, in Austin, Bravo takes charge after incapacitating his unreliable partner, Larry, and drives to scout the assigned target: Steven Schroeder’s upscale apartment. He parks discreetly behind a construction embankment and slips into the building using intercom confusion, picks the maintenance-room lock, and finally quietly works Schroeder’s apartment lock while the occupant is in the shower.

Inside, Bravo surprises Schroeder, drags him from the tub, wraps him in a shower curtain, and demands he memorize a menacing, scripted warning phrase. When Schroeder struggles to recite it, Bravo physically coerces compliance. Then, savagely inflicts multiple fractures on Schroeder, leaving him unable to flee or fight, and leaves the warning message on the pillow beside the unconscious man. Bravo places a 911 call from Schroeder’s phone claiming an attack, trips an emergency exit alarm to create chaos, and bolts out into the courtyard. He returns to the hidden car, finds Larry as he left him, and drives away as sirens close in. The operation, now completed, was violent, precise, and chillingly effective.

Chapter 23 Summary

Roger Cortez turns to his network of hired enforcers, contacting a volatile pair through a burner phone to arrange a new assignment. The target is Steven Schroeder, who is to be injured, severely enough to be sidelined for months, but kept alive to deliver a chilling message. Negotiations over payment spark tension, and when Larry demands more money, Bravo, the stronger and more pragmatic partner, knocks him unconscious and takes control of the job. Cortez approves, providing the exact warning Schroeder must recite before being beaten. Bravo, calm and efficient, agrees to carry out the task and later deliver Larry to Houston, unaware that Cortez has already set plans in motion for a separate operative, “Remington,” to eliminate Larry once they arrive.

Meanwhile, Jennifer Bennett concludes her interview with Sandra Brown at GenaSeed, pressing the VP of Communications on the company’s controversial practices. Their exchange grows sharp, with Sandra defending GenaSeed as a solution to global hunger while Jennifer highlights the long-term stranglehold their products place on farmers. The meeting ends curtly, leaving Jennifer both frustrated and intrigued. As she leaves, she recalls her dinner plans—not only with Anthony Russell but also with Javon Morris. Realizing she must cancel one, she phones Javon to apologize. Though disappointed, Javon keeps his composure, and they tentatively agree to reschedule if Jennifer’s editor allows her to remain in St. Louis. Their conversation closes on a note of possibility, with Jennifer privately hoping new developments might buy her the time she needs.