The mistake didn’t come like an explosion.

It came like a twitch.

Danny caught it because he’d spent years watching men like Hale lie to themselves. Watching confidence curdle into control, then rot into impatience. Hale didn’t rage. He didn’t threaten. He adjusted.

And that adjustment left fingerprints.

Danny leaned closer to his screen, eyes narrowing as the telemetry streams overlapped. Chloe’s visible responses flowed smoothly, too smoothly. Hale’s system should have settled ...