Her Obsession (by Sheridan Hartin) novel Chapter 9

The Rat and The Ghost.

her.

“The ghast,” I muttered.

Nico frowned. “That stalker?”

“She’s not a stalker,” I said flatly. “She’s a shadow with a knife.”

He raised his hands in surrender “Alright. But whoever she is, she’s good, Real good. She got in without triggering a single alert.”

And the rat?”

“That one’s sloppier. More familiar with our system. Could be crew. Someone close.”

The room fell quiet except for the low hum of his laptop. Two sets of eyes watching me. One warning. One betraying. I looked around the space that used to be safe and felt the walls closing in.

“We find them both,” I said. “Every last wire, every last lie. Tear it all down if we have to.”

Nico nodded. “Want to start with the rat or the ghost?”

I didn’t hesitate.

“The rat bleeds first.”

One hour later.

Nico’s office looked like a war room. Screens lit up every wall, code flickering, network maps glowing, camera feeds playing on loop. We’d already pulled every access log from the past six months and started cross-checking movement patterns against keycard swipes and system pings.

“Cross-reference anyone with full access to the third floor,” I said, pacing. “I want timestamps, badge logs, even when they went to take a damn piss.”

Nico nodded, already typing. He didn’t need reminding how close this was getting. My rat had been feeding someone, maybe more than one someone for weeks. Months, maybe. I didn’t like the feeling that the enemy had been breathing down my neck, watching my every move, listening in on every whispered command. We ruled out a few of the guards fast. Not tech-savvy enough, not cleared for the right areas. Then came the deeper cuts, lieutenants, accountants, suppliers. I trusted no one. Everyone was a suspect until proven clean.

“Got something,” Nico said, spinning his screen. “This guy, Dean, low-level, mostly runs shipments, but he’s got admin-level access to your main security system.”

“Why the hell would Dean need admin clearance?”

“He doesn’t. Not unless someone gave it to him.”

I stared at the name, then the digital trace behind it. He’d logged into my system at odd hours, 2:47 AM, 3:12, 4:01, all times when no one should be touching anything. The logs were wiped afterward, but not well. Nico dug them back up.

“Flag him. Quietly,” I muttered. “We’ll talk to him when I’m feeling less patient.”

We kept digging. I kept digging. I didn’t stop. Not even as the sun began to stain the sky outside pale grey and pink. My shirt stuck to my back, my jaw tight from hours of clenched silence. Then it came. My phone buzzed once. I didn’t look right away. Some part of me already knew. My chest tightened before I even reached for it.

Unknown Number:

Put my cameras back, darling.

XX

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3:43 pm

The Rat and The Ghost.

I stared at the screen. Nicu leaned over, reading it with me. “No signature?”

“No. She never signs her name,” I murmured.

He raised an eyebrow. “She’s ballsy. Knows we found her out. Wants you to know she’s still watching.”

“She wants me to chase her.”

*She’s mocking you.”

“She’s resting me.”

My fingers hovered over the screen. Fuck it. “Or what?’ I responded.

“Track it?” I asked.

“Working on it. But if she’s half as smart as I think she is, it’ll lead us nowhere. Or right into a trap.”

“Good,” I said. “I’m getting tired of standing still.”

I walked toward the window, the city just starting to stir below. Somewhere out there, the rat was sweating, and the ghost was smiling. My phone pinged again. Interesting…

Unknown Number:

“Don’t test me, darling. Put. Them. Back. xx”

Nico raised his eyebrow at me. “You going to stand for that?”

I responded with just one word. “No.” Because this girl, whoever she was, needed to know her place.

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