Chapter 1

My best friend went missing while working deep undercover abroad. I begged Director Miller to send me in as her backup.

When I finally tracked her down at a remote reservoir, she had been tortured past the point of recognition. But thank God, she never broke. She kept her mouth shut, saved her own identity, and barely clung to life.

For the next few years, the two of us played our parts flawlessly. We became the mistresses of two different high-ranking lieutenants in the cartel. Working in perfect, silent sync, we clawed our way closer and closer to the inner circle. Finally, on Lyra’s twenty-ninth birthday, we pulled the net tight, took down the entire syndicate, and completed the mission.

Looking at the plane tickets back home in my hands, I broke down crying right there at the airport. The sheer relief washed over me, and I couldn’t stop sobbing.

"Lyra, the nightmare is over. We’re finally going home!"

I reached into my bag to grab the birthday present I had painstakingly prepared for her. But then, Lyra looked out the window and sighed softly. "Yeah. It’s been so long. I wonder if that old maple tree in our backyard is still standing."

Her eyes were filled with soft nostalgia, but my entire body went instantly cold. A wave of sheer terror crashed over me.

Our parents had been brutally murdered by the cartel years ago. Before we even entered the police academy, we knew we would eventually face these monsters.

Standing in our old backyard, Lyra had pointed at that maple tree and made a solemn vow with me. "Our parents' ashes are buried beneath the roots of this tree. It’s not just a maple tree to us, Alana. It’s the Tree of Vengeance. If either of us ever gets caught and compromised, we must find a way to use the words 'maple tree' in our communications."

"It means: *I am compromised. Do not trust a single word I say.*"

But now, we were completely safe. The mission was over. Yet, she had just casually said those exact words right to my face.

She wasn't Lyra.

My stomach plummeted. If she wasn't Lyra... then where was my best friend?

Who was this person who had spent years undercover with me, risking her life, bleeding beside me, and fighting with what I thought was absolute shared conviction?