Navarro stood and surveyed the room where Victor Kane had died. The crime scene still reeked of ozone, scorched polymers, and something more organic beneath the chemical tang of forensic dust. She stood at the threshold, taking in the wreckage—the splintered furniture, the shattered display screens, the blood spattered across the sleek, corporate-grey walls. This was where it happened. Where the golden boy of Synapse Dynamics met his end.

  Victor Kane’s office was a mess. The security drones had done their job a little too well, turning an already violent crime scene into something that looked like a war zone. Broken glass, charred furniture, blood smeared across the floor. The smell of ozone still hung in the air from discharged plasma rounds.

  Navarro crouched near the body, flipping through her holopad. Kane’s corpse was slumped over, his neural port still partially exposed from where the intruder had accessed it. She’d been on enough cases to recognise a professional job when she saw one. The bastard had gotten in and out clean—almost.

  Footsteps. Too measured, too quiet for a man his size.

  She didn’t look up immediately. Instead, she let him come to her.

  “You’re late,” she said, still scrolling through her notes.

  Kessler smirked faintly. “Didn’t realise I was on a schedule.” He stepped closer, extending a hand. “Kessler. Head of security.”

  His voice was deep, controlled.

  Navarro gave him a long, measured look before shaking his hand. Her grip was firm, unflinching. “Detective Navarro. City homicide.”

  She had dealt with corporate muscle before—most of them were polished thugs in expensive suits, more interested in protecting their employer’s image than finding the truth. But she could tell Kessler was different.

  She took his outstretched hand, noting the way he moved. Efficient. Controlled. His grip was firm but not aggressive, a man who knew his own strength. His suit hid most of it, but she could tell—he had military-grade augments. Nothing obvious, but it was in the way his shoulders squared, the way his stance adjusted to centre his balance.

  If he wanted to, he could probably kill everyone in the building with his bare hands.

  “I was just going over the evidence,” she said, releasing his hand.

  “What do you have?”

  Navarro gestured to the body. “Your intruder was good. No security footage, no digital trace. Moved like he had the blueprints memorised.”

  Kessler’s expression barely shifted, but she caught the flicker of something behind his eyes. There was something about Kessler that didn’t set off the usual alarms. Maybe it was the way he carried himself—no corporate smugness, no false friendliness. Just a man here to do a job. By the book, from the looks of him.

  If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  She could work with that.

  Navarro gestured toward the wreckage. “So, your guy was a pro. No cameras got a good look at him. He disabled security drones before they could react. Smart, fast, precise.” She crouched near the bloodstain, pointing to the faint smudges leading away from it. “But he made one mistake—he brushed against the body while working on the neural port.”

  Kessler narrowed his eyes. “Enough for a print?”

  Navarro shook her head. “No. But enough for DNA. We’ve already sent a sample off for analysis.”

  Kessler exhaled through his nose. The first solid lead. “What else?”

  “Footprints through the blood. We think they’re his. Means he left in a hurry.” She shot him a glance. “You sure your security didn’t encourage that?”

  Kessler sighed. “They were too trigger-happy, I’ll admit. It’s making this harder than it needs to be.”

  Navarro huffed. “That’s a first—corporate security admitting fault.”

  Kessler shrugged. “I don’t deal in excuses. Just solutions.”

  They both fell silent for a moment, watching the scene as the forensic teams continued their work.

  Then Navarro’s comm chimed. She checked the screen, and whatever she saw made the colour drain slightly from her face. She glanced down at the update from forensics. Her stomach twisted.

  She double-checked the results.

  Then checked again.

  Shit.

  Kessler caught her reaction immediately. “What is it?”

  Navarro exhaled sharply and turned the screen so he could see.

  “The DNA results just came in,” she said, voice steady.

  “And?”

  Navarro met his gaze, jaw tight.

  “It’s a perfect match.” She hesitated for only a moment before adding—

  “But the man it belongs to has been dead for twenty years. ”Kessler stared at the results on Navarro’s holopad, his expression unreadable. If he was surprised, he didn’t show it. Instead, he exhaled through his nose and shifted his stance slightly—calculating.

  Navarro wasn’t sure what she expected. A reaction, at least. Most corporate men would have blustered, demanded an explanation, insisted on shutting the investigation down. Kessler just… thought.

  “Twenty years,” he said finally. “Any chance it’s a mistake?”

  She shook her head. “Forensics double-checked. It’s him.”

  A long pause. The sound of boots crunching over broken glass as corporate and city officers moved through the scene.

  Kessler crossed his arms. “This doesn’t make sense.”

  “No, it doesn’t.”

  She tapped at her holopad, pulling up the forensics timeline. “Here’s something else that doesn’t add up. Kane’s estimated time of death is logged at 22:43. Coroner’s report confirms it. But security logs put the intruder entering the building at 23:12.”

  Kessler frowned. “Half an hour apart.”

  “Exactly.” Navarro held his gaze. “Your intruder didn’t kill Kane. He came in after.”

  She watched him carefully, looking for any sign of resistance, any indication that he’d push back. But Kessler only nodded.

  “That tracks with the evidence,” he admitted. “The intruder knew what he was doing, but he wasn’t expecting to find a body. He went straight for the neural port, did what he came to do, then left in a hurry.”

  Navarro nodded. “We found footprints in the blood near the body—his most obvious mistake. They match the time of entry, not the time of death. He stepped in dried blood. Means Kane was already dead.”

  Kessler exhaled sharply. “And now we’re chasing a ghost.”

  Navarro tucked the holopad under her arm. “Welcome to my job.”

  Kessler glanced at the body, then at the shattered remains of the office. “So who killed Kane?”

  She shrugged. “That’s the question, isn’t it?”

  For a moment, they stood in silence, the hum of security drones filling the space.

  Finally, Kessler looked at her. “You still think we’re on the same side?”

  Navarro considered that. She didn’t trust corporations, not as a rule. Too many secrets, too many cover-ups. But Kessler? He didn’t seem like the type to play games.

  She nodded once. “For now.”