Ninety Eight

After a brief moment of silence, Linda looked down at her hands, then back at me, her eyes reflecting a deep dismay. “After you and Atlas broke up, we assigned a new spy to protect him. She was good... one of the best. But Atlas turned her away. He said he didn’t need anyone else watching over him.”

A sense of disbelief washed over me as I stared at Linda, my mind racing. “So, what happened next?”

Linda took a deep breath as if steeling herself for the words she was about to say. “Atlas and Victor came to the Night Owl headquarters one morning. They had a meeting with the boss. After they left, the boss made an announcement that shocked everyone. The $2.5 billion mission to protect Atlas Sharpe was terminated.”

My heart sank as the gravity of her words hit me. “Terminated? But why? Why would they do that?”

"The boss didn't say," Linda shook her head, her expression pained. “And I don’t know all the details, but the news was devastating. It threw the entire organization into chaos. Man