“Operation Viper dismantled a trafficking and intelligence network operating through multiple governments and private contractors. Officially, the mission rescued diplomats.” His eyes hardened. “Unofficially, it destroyed something much larger.”
Fragments began sliding together inside my head.
The strange resistance during the mission.
The leaked intelligence beforehand.
The way certain targets vanished before raids could happen.
The internal investigations that quietly disappeared afterward.
And suddenly I understood why some reports had remained sealed even from me.
“You think this network survived,” I said quietly.
“We know parts of it survived.”
A heavy silence settled between us.
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