Five

Wow! Just wow!

That was all Tyler could come up with when he glanced through the files Raina had gathered together over the past couple of weeks.

She had done a very nice job, one a top notch detective was capable of doing. No wonder she was in danger. Not only did she had this files, but according to her, she also had incriminating evidence against them.

Tyler started to read the profiles of the people who had been murdered, but ruled suicides by the cops. He wondered whether or not the cops were involved in this somehow, but he would have to investigate that on his own.

There were seven files in total, and the first file was about a man called Gregory John.

Age: 42

Cause of Death: Jumped from his office building's rooftop.

Background: John was known for investigative journalism. At the time of his death, he was working on an exposé about corporate malpractice.

Suspicious Circumstances: Days before his death, John told a colleague he had uncovered evidence linking RavenTech to illegal surveillance and coercion practices. His notes were missing when police searched his office.

Tyler dropped his file and picked another. This one was a woman called Maya Collins.

Age: 38

Cause of Death: Overdose on sleeping pills.

Background: Maya had worked for RavenTech's finance department and was meticulous with numbers. She discovered a series of untraceable offshore transactions linked to shell companies.

Suspicious Circumstances: Maya told her sister she intended to expose the company and had shared some of the evidence. Her death was ruled a suicide, despite her never showing signs of depression. The files she sent mysteriously vanished.

Next one, Sandra Liu.

Age: 35

Cause of Death: Found hanging in her home.

Background: Sandra specialized in trauma therapy and had several patients connected to RavenTech. One patient claimed to have been blackmailed by company insiders.

Suspicious Circumstances: Sandra had expressed fear for her safety to her best friend after she was asked to "disappear" the records of one patient who had incriminating knowledge. The friend was unable to reach her the day she died.

Next one, David Granger

Age: 31

Cause of Death: Car crash, presumed suicide by intentional collision.

Background: David was a data analyst for a contractor working with RavenTech.

He uncovered patterns suggesting the company was manipulating public sentiment through bot networks.

Suspicious Circumstances: David left a voicemail for his girlfriend, saying, "If anything happens to me, it wasn't an accident." Yet police ruled his crash a suicide. The crash data report was flagged for anomalies but never followed up on.

Next one, Lily Vargas

Age: 37

Cause of Death: Fall from her lab's rooftop.

Background: Lily was involved in research funded by RavenTech's pharmaceutical division. She had started questioning the safety of a drug scheduled for market release.

Suspicious Circumstances: She told her team the drug's trial results had been falsified. Two days later, she was found dead. Her notes were removed from the lab and marked "classified."

Next one, Marcus Bryant.

Age: 45

Cause of Death: Gunshot wound, labeled as suicide.

Background: Marcus was a former security specialist who had worked closely with RavenTech's executive team.

He knew how the company dealt with “internal threats.”

Suspicious Circumstances: Marcus had been paranoid in the weeks leading up to his death. He told his brother, "They're coming for me. Police dismissed the incident as a suicide, but the gun used was untraceable.

The last profile was about a man called Nate X. Patton, an engineer.

Age: 29

Cause of Death: Slit wrists in his home bathtub.

Background: A talented coder who previously worked at RavenTech's cybersecurity division. Nate was rumored to be working on sensitive encryption algorithms.

Suspicious Circumstances: He had confided to a friend that he found discrepancies in the data he was analyzing-indicating someone was spying on high-profile individuals through RavenTech's software. Shortly after, he was found dead.

As Tyler read the last file, he frowned. Why was the last profile matching his brother’s, but the name different? His brother’s name wasn’t Nate X. Patton, his name was Tate Paxton.

Raina waited until it was an hour later before she spoke from where she sat watching him. “Have you finished reading everything?” She asked.

“Yes.” He said simply, not raising his head from the files or asking anything.

“You’re fast. Do you have any questions?” She asked, prompting him to say something, and Tyler nodded his head, finally looking at her.

“Yes, I do. This last man, are you sure his name is Nate?” He asked and she nodded.

“Yes, but I believe he was using that name because he was working undercover for the competition. RavenTech probably caught on.” She explained.

Well, that made sense. But what Tyler still didn’t understand was the connection between the victim aside RavenTech. Did they all died whispering the name to their loved ones? Or was these all just a big fat coincidence?

One thing he didn’t believe in was coincidence, but there was nothing on earth that couldn’t happen, so he wouldn’t want to rule anything out.

“Do you think there’s any connection between any of the victims?” Tyler asked and Raina nodded.

“Of course, but I’ll have to explain that to you later.” Raina said and he nodded his head, yes. That was going to have to happen then, but for now, he needed to get her out of here and back to his house. She would be safe there.

It wasn’t ideal, but his firm’s safe houses here in New Haven wasn’t available at all, and he wasn’t sure he had the time to get a more secured place, check it out and run a background check on the owners before getting her out of here.

This was just too short notice.

He glanced at Raina, her tense posture indicating she was waiting for his next move. “Pack up your things,” Tyler ordered, his voice calm but firm. “We’re leaving. You’ll be safer at my place.”

“Your place?” She asked, her eyes widening.

“If you have a better suggestion of where else you think would be safe and better with top-notch security, then I’m all ears.” He said, lifting his shoulder in a small shrug like he doesn’t care what she did as long as she didn’t disturb him.

Raina stood up immediately, walking to the bedroom and Tyler followed suit. She grabbed her jacket and a small backpack she had brought with her to the hotel. “How long do you think I’ll stay at your place for?” she asked, keeping her voice low.

“Not sure yet,” Tyler said, already moving to the window to pull the curtain aside just enough to scan the surroundings. He didn’t see anyone suspicious, but he knew better than to let his guard down. “But you’re not coming back here.”

Raina nodded and began stuffing her belongings into the backpack. Tyler kept watch, scanning every shadow outside and mentally reviewing his backup plans in case anything went wrong. He knew how fast things could go sideways in situations like these, and he wasn’t going to take any chances.

Once Raina finished, Tyler turned to her. “Stay close. Keep your head down until we’re inside the truck.”

The two of them moved quickly through the hotel, Tyler’s hand on the small of her back, guiding her. Every muscle in his body was tense, his eyes darting to every corner. He stayed hyper-aware of their surroundings, checking for anyone lingering too long or watching them too closely.

Raina was tensed too, but not because she was worried someone might suddenly attack her. Believe it or not, there was just something about this man that made her feel safe, but it was his hand on her back that was bothering her.

She had shivered slightly when his hand first settled there, and if he noticed anything, he didn’t say.

They reached the parking lot, and Tyler immediately scanned the area. There were a couple of other guests coming and going, but nothing seemed out of place. Still, he didn’t relax. “Let’s go,” he whispered, nudging Raina toward his truck.

Tyler’s vehicle wasn’t just any ordinary truck; it was bulletproof. Reinforced windows, armored panels, and run-flat tires made sure of that. It was designed for situations exactly like this, where extraction and protection were paramount.

He opened the passenger door for Raina, helping her in quickly. As soon as she was inside, he did another quick check of the area, looking for any signs of trouble; any figure lurking, anyone watching them too intently.

Tyler climbed into the driver’s seat, locking the doors the moment they shut behind him. “Buckle up,” he told her.

Raina fumbled with the seatbelt, her fingers trembling slightly. Tyler noticed but said nothing. Instead, he fired up the engine, and the deep rumble of the truck came to life. The dashboard lights glowed softly, and Tyler shifted the vehicle into gear.

Tyler kept his eyes on the rearview mirror, and when he was satisfied with no signs of tailing, he concluded that they were in the clear, for now. If RavenTech was as dangerous as they seemed, they wouldn’t let someone like Raina disappear easily.

“Any chance you told anyone else about those files?” Tyler asked as she shook her head.

“Good! Then we better keep it that way.” He said.