Page 154 of Cold Mercy

Maintain cover integrity at all times. The subject must remain unaware of operative status.

METHODOLOGY

Embedded long-term presence under civilian cover

Repeated indirect contact through shared professional and social environments

Gradual trust acquisition through familiarity and controlled exposure

Psychological profiling to determine leverage points

Emotional provocation permitted if necessary for extraction

INITIAL CONTACT REPORT

DATE: 06/22

LOCATION: Harlow club, Lower East Side

REPORT:

Contact was established without resistance. The subject initiated the conversation. Displays assertive demeanor and heightened situational awareness.

Behavior suggests possible narcissistic traits masked by hostility. Subject attempts to control interactions through sarcasm and emotional distancing.

Subject appears intelligent and dismissive of authority figures. Likely history of interpersonal conflict.

PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT — PRELIMINARY

Subject MOREAU presents as emotionally volatile beneath a controlled exterior.

Potential vulnerabilities include loyalty fixation and unresolved attachment to deceased asset MERCER.

Recommendation: Maintain proximity. Emotional leverage may be effective if applied gradually.

Filed by: T. Collins

“This is impossible,” I whisper, but the words fall apart in my mouth.

Noah crouches beside me.

“He's a fucking dog, sweetheart. Full federal infiltration protocol, your entire life monitored. He embedded it intentionally.”

My throat closes tight as violent tremors rack my entire body, a physical rejection of the words staring up at me. It’s impossible. It has to be impossible. There is no universe where I was this stupid, this incredibly blind, to let an agent into my bed and mistake his calculation for love.

Pretty face and empty head, you believed the lies he fed. We screamed the truth into your ear, but you’re just a broken doll, my dear.

“No.” My voice is a breath, a phantom. “If you faked your death, you could’ve faked these too…”

His irritation flares hot and instant.

“Wake him up,” he snaps, pointing at Thomas.

A guard jams the stun baton against Thomas’s chest, and with a scream of electricity, his body convulses violently, forcing a jagged, choking gasp as he is ripped back into consciousness.

Noah crouches beside him, his tone almost cheerful.

“Welcome back to the land of the living, Detective Collins. Let’s give Sophia a little…history lesson.”