Secrets 300
Chapter 300 The Burden of the Case
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“Regulations?” Jasper finally spoke, his voice low and smooth, yet carrying a chill sharp enough to bite. “Which regulation allows you to shove and bark at civilians? Or is that how your station interprets the law?”
His words were measured, unhurried, but each syllable pierced like an ice pick.
Thomas flushed red, then pale, unable to answer.
Jasper ignored him and crossed to Scarlett’s side. His tone softened. “Did he scare you?”
Scarlett shook her head, her eyes lifting to him with a flicker of reliance. “Mr. Fletcher, could you bend the rules for me? I just need to know how my friend is.”
Jasper glanced at Jack. The meaning was clear.
Jack exhaled, rubbing his temple. Of course. Dirty work always fell to him.
He turned a cold stare on Thomas.
Thomas felt that look like a knife to his throat. His arrogance collapsed. Damian Corp’s heir was not someone he could provoke. And that other man that Fletcher – one glance was enough to freeze his blood.
—
“Ahem… Colt’s over at the tech division. I’ll have someone take you there,” Thomas muttered, retreating with his tail between his legs. The swagger he’d flaunted earlier was gone.
Jack laughed openly at his retreat, while Scarlett’s worry only deepened.
Jasper gave her shoulder a reassuring pat. “Go see him.”
She drew a long breath and nodded. She could only hope Thomas’s venom had been nothing more than spite, a bid to unsettle her.
The tech division sat at the far end of the station, a dim and cluttered wing that felt worlds apart from the bright front offices.
Before they reached the door, the sound of arguing seeped through the walls.
“I told you, this hole can’t be patched! Their tech is too advanced paper!”
–
our firewall’s like wet
“So what now? Victims are already storming the city bureau! Colt, you took this case, you
fix it!”
11:48 Fri, Oct 3
Chapter 300 The Burden of the Case
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“I’m trying! But you need to give me time!” That was Colt’s voice, ragged with exhaustion and edged with frustration.
Scarlett’s chest tightened. She pushed the door open.
Inside was chaos. Papers and takeout boxes piled high, computers humming, and several officers hunched over their screens, faces grim.
At the far desk sat Colt. His hair was a mess, dark circles heavy under his eyes, his shirt wrinkled, his frame thinner than before. The sight wrenched at her heart.
When he noticed her, he froze. A flicker of panic crossed his eyes. “What are you doing here?”
Scarlett took in the room before meeting his gaze. “They confiscated your phone?”
Colt looked away with a weary smile. “It’s nothing. Just busy.”
The truth was, in a case this sensitive, all their phones had been collected. Contact with the outside world was tightly restricted. That she was here at all meant she had pulled strings – and he hated that she had to worry about him.
“Nothing?” a bespectacled officer muttered bitterly.
“Colt hasn’t slept in three days! The hackers are too damn good. Every time we trace them, they counterattack. Yesterday they even broke into our database and deleted critical files! No one else in the bureau dares touch the case – so they dumped it on Colt.”
“Bob!” Colt barked, but it was too late.
Bob pressed his lips together, unrepentant. If these visitors were cleared to be here, then it was fine. He only hated seeing Colt crushed under the weight of it alone.
Scarlett pieced the story together quickly.
It was a cross–border telecom fraud case, massive – fifty million involved, hundreds of victims. And within the network was a hacker so skilled that the entire bureau had been left helpless.
Colt had been made the scapegoat. If he solved it, fine. If he failed, he’d take the fall – maybe
even his career.
Her eyes stung red. “If it weren’t for me, you’d never have been sidelined here. You wouldn’t have been thrown this impossible case!”
Colt parted his lips, then shut them again, sighing. He wanted to say it wasn’t her fault, but words had never been his strength. Rebecca’s mess had been his failure, not Scarlett’s.
11:48 Fri, Oct 3
Chapter 300 The Burden of the Case
+8 Pears
Scarlett lifted her hand, silencing him gently. “Forget that. Tell me the details. Maybe… maybe I can help.”
In the past, she would never have offered, not to anyone beyond her family. But now, she meant it. Colt was her friend – truly.
The mood in the room grew heavier.
Colt rubbed his temples, voice low. “It’s a cross–border telecom scam. Amounts exceed fifty million. Over a hundred victims.”
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