Salt Kiss – Episode 53
Ricker stopped Tristan before he reached the door. “Walk away, and you are no son of mine.”
The sentence once would have shattered him. Now Tristan thought of Mark waiting despite fear and Isolde offering comfort without demanding obedience.
“Then you should have treated me like one when you had the chance.”
He left the office without looking back. Mark and Isolde met him in the parking garage, abandoning the concealment plan when they saw his face.
“You heard?” Tristan asked.
“Every word,” Isolde said.
Mark took Tristan’s hand in full view of the security cameras. “His failure does not define your worth.”
The reassurance nearly broke the control Tristan had maintained. He allowed himself one unsteady breath before returning to the mission.
They still needed Ricker’s files. Isolde suggested approaching the contractor through Laurence financial channels, while Mark offered access to political contacts Vale had once cultivated.
Tristan realized they no longer needed his father’s permission. Together, they possessed enough pieces to build their own case.
By evening, Isolde uncovered a dormant account funding Vale’s private compound. Mark identified an upcoming auction where Vale planned to sell stolen intelligence.
The event would gather buyers, evidence, and the man responsible for years of violence in one place.
“We give federal agents the location,” Tristan said.
“Vale will disappear before they arrive,” Mark replied. “He has survived by owning advance warning.”
Isolde examined the guest list. Her family name could secure an invitation.
“Absolutely not,” Tristan said.
“You do not get to defend my freedom and then deny me the right to use it.”
She was right, and all three knew it. Their final operation would require Isolde as the visible buyer, Mark as the bait Vale could not resist, and Tristan between them with everything to lose.