Page 154 of Deadly Mimic
Ihadn’tdone this.
Not the timing. Not the method. Not the framing.
I pulled up updates on my phone as Rather continued, irritation sharpening as details failed to materialize. No confirmed suspect. No clear sequence. No claim of responsibility.
Sloppy.
The broadcast shifted again—now focusing on the documents.
“Earlier today,” Rather said, “multiple newsrooms received what is being described as a written communication from the individual calling himself the Auditor.”
My jaw tightened.
“The letter does not claim responsibility for the recent deaths,” Rather continued. “Nor does it issue a threat. Instead, it presents itself as an explanation.”
Explanation.
That wasn’t my language.
“The author suggests that recent federal action was not directed by him,” Rather said carefully, “but forced by the exposure of systemic misconduct. He describes himself not as an instigator—but as a witness.”
I exhaled slowly.
No.
The chyron read:AUTHENTICITY UNCONFIRMED
Good. At least they were uncertain.
Rather finished the segment by asking the only question that mattered.
“If the Auditor is not claiming responsibility for this moment—then who is?”
I muted the television.
The answer was obvious.
Someone wanted my authority without my discipline. My philosophy without my limits. Myvoice—without my consent.
They hadn’t just mimicked my work.
They had widened it. Sloppily. Publicly. And they had dragged Mallory into it.
That was unforgivable.
I hadn’t touched Colin Thorne. I hadn’t ordered the attack on Guy Reardon. I hadn’t written that letter.
But I would find out who had.
And when I did, I would audit them.
Completely.
To uncoverwho is manipulating the investigation, weaponizing the media, and rewriting the rules Mallory thought she understood, the story continues in Chameleon Killer.
Power, protection, and obsession are no longer abstract forces—they have names, faces, and hands reaching for her. As the lines blur between ally, lover, and enemy, Mallory must decide who she can trust…before someone else decides for her.
