"It’s like he didn’t even exist before he joined the team. No birth certificate. No school records. No medical history. Nothing."

"That’s just not possible," Zayden said, moving behind her chair. His hands landed on her shoulders, his thumbs working to ease the tightness. "Even undercover agents have basic identities."

"Not Alexander." Aylin pulled up a timeline on her screen.

"Look, Dad, Mom, Charles, and Mehmet Demir all have solid backgrounds, info about their childhoods, families, and jobs before getting recruited. But Alexander?" Aylin pointed to the thin file in front of her.

"He just seems to show up out of nowhere at twenty-eight, already trained, vetted, and put on the team without the usual trial period."

Zayden leaned in closer, checking out the details. "That’s not how it usually goes."

"No, it’s not." Aylin’s mind was racing as she connected the dots. "This means someone pretty high up helped him get on the team, someone who can skip standard procedures."

"Who has that kind of power?" Zayden asked.

Aylin’s fingers began flying over the keyboard, pulling up classified government files, stuff she definitely shouldn’t have access to. "Only a few people: directors, generals, or politicians with security clearances."

Then a thought hit her. "Or maybe someone from the criminal world with enough clout to plant a mole in government operations."

Zayden’s expression sharpened. "Alpha."

"Exactly," Aylin said, gaining confidence. "Think about it. Mehmet Demir was the team’s weapons guru, skilled, trustworthy, and dependable. Then suddenly, he’s sent overseas on a mission that conveniently takes him off the team."

"Opening up a spot," Zayden pieced together.

"Right. A spot that Alexander Kane fills." Aylin brought up mission reports. "And the timing? Alexander joins right when the team is digging into Alpha’s organization, right when they’re about to uncover something big." 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Zayden’s jaw tightened. "He was sent to mess with them from the inside."

"More than that," Aylin’s voice dropped, a mix of frustration and sadness creeping in.

"I think my mom found something, some evidence linking Alpha to... something. I don’t know what, but it must’ve been huge enough that they couldn’t risk her exposing it."

"So Alexander killed her," Zayden said quietly.

"Made it look like a natural thing," Aylin kept going, tears welling up in her eyes but her voice steady. "A heart attack. Out of the blue. No investigation since there was nothing suspicious."

She pulled up the medical report. "Except, look at this, the autopsy says she died of cardiac arrest, but my mom had a full check-up just two months earlier, a clean bill of health, no heart issues, and no risk factors. The cardiologist’s report backs that up, she had perfect cardiovascular health."

Zayden leaned in to read over her shoulder. "Someone must’ve induced it."

"Poison," Aylin said flatly. "Something that could mimic a natural heart attack. Totally untraceable if you don’t know what to look for."

She pulled up more documents. "And fourteen years ago, toxicology wasn’t anywhere near as advanced. They wouldn’t have tested for half the stuff we can today."

"Alexander killed her and made it look like it was just a natural thing—" Zayden said, looking serious.

"Then he kept feeding info to Alpha, every mission, every target, every weak spot. But he was clever about it. He framed it to seem like it was all coming from my dad."

She pulled up some encrypted messages. "Check this out. These are supposedly from Dad’s account, sending classified intel to known criminals. But look at the digital signature."

Zayden leaned in closer. "What am I supposed to see?"

"The encryption key," Aylin pointed out. "It’s off by three decimal points. Someone tried to fake my dad’s signature, but they didn’t get the exact algorithm right. It looks close enough to fool someone who isn’t paying much attention, but it wouldn’t hold up under real scrutiny."

"That means Alexander didn’t have your father’s real codes," Zayden realized.

"Nope. He had decent estimates, but nothing perfect." Aylin’s voice turned bitter. "When he showed this to Charles, he only gave him the messages and skipped the technical details. Just enough ’proof’ to convince a desperate guy that his friend had betrayed him."

Zayden tightened his grip on her shoulders. "And when your dad started to catch on?"

"Five years ago, my dad died in a ’car accident,’" Aylin said, rolling her eyes at the air quotes. "Brake line failure. His car went off a bridge."

She pulled up the police report. "But Dad’s car had just been serviced two weeks earlier, new brakes, new lines, everything checked and certified by the mechanic."

"Someone messed with it," Zayden said.

"Exactly," Aylin said, her hands forming fists. "Alexander killed my dad, too. He made it look like a mechanical failure to stop him from revealing the truth."

Zayden knelt in front of her and held her hands. "Aylin, "

"They took apart the whole team," Aylin kept going, her voice shaking.

"One by one. My mom first because she found something dangerous, poisoned to look like a heart attack. Then they framed Charles, forcing him into hiding and making him lose everything. They sent Mehmet away. I need to find out if he’s even alive. And they took my dad out when he got too close to the truth, messing with his car to make it seem like an accident."

"All to protect Alpha," Zayden said.

"Yep, all to keep his operation going," Aylin clarified.

"My parents’ team was the biggest threat to him. They were loyal, impossible to corrupt. So he found someone who could destroy them from the inside."

Her golden-brown eyes blazed with anger. "Alexander Kane is Alpha’s creation. He’s always been. And he’s still out there."

Zayden pulled her into a tight hug. "We’ll find him. I promise we will track him down and make him pay for every life he ruined."

Aylin held onto him tightly, finally letting her tears flow. "My parents were heroes. They died trying to save others."

"And their daughter is going to carry on what they started," Zayden said confidently.

Alexander Kane doesn’t feel like a twist. He feels inevitable.