Chapter 10 - The Night the Trap Closed)
Canadian tactical officers entered from three directions.
Daniel's team cut power to the building.
Marcus dropped behind a stone column.
Silas threw himself to the floor.
Odalys screamed.
Cassian fired once toward the ceiling, then disappeared through the rear corridor.
Aaron's chair overturned.
Marcus crawled toward him.
"Stay down."
Outside, floodlights illuminated the frozen grounds.
Elena watched feeds flicker across multiple screens.
Priya stood behind her with a hand over her mouth.
"Is your family always like this?"
"No."
Elena considered.
"Apparently."
Police secured Odalys within six minutes.
Silas surrendered almost immediately.
Aaron was freed.
Cassian escaped.
A tunnel beneath Mariner House led toward the cliffs.
A boat had been waiting.
By the time authorities reached the shore, it was gone.
More importantly, Camille had never been inside the hotel.
Her live video originated through an encrypted relay.
They still did not know where she was.
But Cassian's equipment yielded something better.
A partial network map.
Twenty-two locations.
Six countries.
And one active communication node inside Baltimore.
Inside St. Catherine Medical Center.
Elena stared.
"Someone here is still working with him."
Daniel nodded.
"Probably someone senior."
Marcus returned to Baltimore the following morning.
He looked exhausted.
He hugged Elena without speaking.
Then he did something she did not expect.
He apologized.
"For what?"
"Everything."
"That's broad."
"I have broad failures."
She laughed.
Then cried.
Then laughed while crying.
Marcus sat beside her.
"We'll find your mother."
"I know."
"You don't know that."
"No."
Elena wiped her face.
"But I need to believe something."
Silas was brought back under federal custody.
Odalys remained detained in Canada pending extradition proceedings.
Evidence from Mariner House connected both of them to fraud, coercion, unlawful surveillance, identity theft, and conspiracy.
But Cassian's network was still active.
And Silas knew more than he admitted.
Elena requested to see him.
Marcus objected.
She insisted.
The meeting took place through reinforced glass.
Silas entered wearing detention clothing.
Without the suit, expensive watch, and practiced confidence, he looked smaller.
Elena sat down.
Silas picked up the phone.
"How's the baby?"
She nearly hung up.
Instead she said, "Alive."
His eyes closed.
"Good."
"Don't perform remorse for me."
"I'm not."
"You drugged me."
"I didn't know the pills were altered."
"You recorded a statement calling me mentally unstable."
"They told me it was leverage."
"You signed guardianship papers."
"I thought"
"No."
Elena leaned toward the glass.
"You don't get to say you thought. You chose."
Silas looked away.
She continued.
"How much did they promise you?"
His jaw tightened.
"Two hundred million."
Elena stared.
"And Odalys?"
"She was part of it."
"You loved her?"
Silas laughed bitterly.
"I thought I did."
Elena nodded.
"Good."
He looked up.
"What?"
"I'd hate to think you destroyed your entire life for someone you didn't even love."
Silas's face tightened.
She had learned something from Marcus.
Calmness could wound more deeply than shouting.
Silas whispered, "I'm sorry."
"No. You're afraid."
He said nothing.
"Tell me where Cassian went."
"I don't know."
"Then tell me what he wants."
"The Covenant."
"We know."
"No."
Silas leaned closer.
"You don't understand."
Elena waited.
"The Covenant isn't just evidence."
"What is it?"
"A control system."
"For what?"
"I never saw the whole thing. Cassian said Camille built a structure that could expose the Circle or take control of parts of it."
"Money?"
"Companies. Trusts. voting rights. nominee holdings. Political foundations."
Elena frowned.
"How?"
"Because the Circle hid assets behind dead people's identities."
Her skin prickled.
Silas continued.
"Camille mapped them all. Then she quietly acquired leverage over their holding companies."
Marcus had been right.
Camille had never built a simple archive.
She built a weapon.
Silas looked around before continuing.
"Cassian believes whoever unlocks the Covenant can seize everything."
"And he needs me."
"Your biometrics."
"Why did my mother choose me?"
"I don't know."
"Try again."
Silas swallowed.
"Because she didn't trust Marcus."
Elena stiffened.
"Why?"
"Cassian said Marcus once belonged to the Circle."
The interview room went silent.
Elena stared through the glass.
"You're lying."
"I wish I was."
Silas leaned closer.
"Ask your father what happened in Zurich in 1998."
Elena ended the call.
Marcus waited outside.
One look at her face told him what Silas had said.
"Zurich," Elena whispered.
Marcus closed his eyes.
May you like
And Elena knew.
It was true.
