Echo frowns, stopping his pacing. "Sleeping? In the middle of an active breach? We have three different fronts, Atara. We can't just—"
"He's sleeping because his body shut down after saving his daughter," I cut him off, stepping into the center of the hall. I cross my arms, looking Echo straight in the eye. "If you wake him, I will personally find that ledger I audited and show the Feds exactly where you keep your retirement fund. Do you want to argue with me, or do you want to do your jobs?"
The room goes dead silent. Kieran looks at Echo, then back at me. A faint, surprised glimmer of amusement touches Kieran's eyes.
"What do you want us to do?" Kieran asks.
"First, clean the ballroom," I say, my mind clicking into the logical, structured mode I use for crises. "I don't want a single trace of this shootout left by morning. The hotel manager needs to be paid off, the local police need to be redirected, and the media needs a story about a gas leak. Kieran, you handle the payoffs. Use the secondary offshore accounts—the ones Vance didn't touch."
Kieran nods, his jaw setting. "I'm on it."
"Echo," I turn to him. "Silas didn't walk in here alone. He had to have a route, a vehicle, and a safe house. He’s bleeding from a severed tendon in his right arm. He can’t drive himself, and he’s going to need a surgeon who doesn't ask questions. Map every black-market clinic within a fifty-mile radius. I want his exit route tracked by midnight."
"And the Senator?" Echo asks, his voice tight. "He saw the whole thing. He's probably halfway to the FBI by now."
"The Senator won't say a word," I say, a cold, sharp smile touching my lips. "I spent three days auditing his committee accounts. If he goes to the Feds, he goes to prison for tax evasion and money laundering. Lock him down. Tell him if he breathes a word of tonight to anyone, his career and his freedom are over."
"And the compound?" a guard from the back asks.
"Double the perimeter," I command. "Nobody goes in or out without my authorization. Maeve is to remain in the bunker withMaria. If I see a single security lapse, Sean is going to have to explain to Lorcan why he failed his daughter twice in one night."
They don't argue. Nobody hesitates.
"You heard her," Kieran barks at the men. "Move!"
The enforcers scatter, the hallway clearing in a flurry of hurried footsteps and quiet murmurs. Kieran stays back for a second, looking at me with a soot-covered grin.
"You're pretty good at this," he says, a small laugh breaking through his fatigue.
"I'm an auditor, Kieran," I say, rubbing my temples. "I fix broken systems. Go get your arm patched up."
"Yes, ma'am," he says, giving me a quick nod before heading down the hall.
I'm alone in the corridor now. The silence of the building settles back in, heavy and cool.
I take a shaky breath and lean against the wall. My body is finally starting to register the exhaustion. The heels of my shoes are digging into my feet, my shoulder is bruised where Silas grabbed me, and my red silk dress is a complete disaster.
But I feel... alive. For the first time since Ireland, I don't feel like a hostage. I feel like a partner.
I need to check on him.
I start walking back toward the quiet room where Lorcan is sleeping. I want to make sure his breathing is still steady.
The phone in my clutch buzzes.
I pull it out, expecting a security alert from Echo or a perimeter update.
The screen flashes with a name I never expected to see again.Tania.
My heart leaps into my throat. A sudden, overwhelming wave of pure happiness washes over me, and I slide the screen open, pressing the phone to my ear.
"Tania!" I gasp, my voice breathless with relief. "Oh my god, Tania, you have no idea—"
"Not quite, Atara."
The voice isn't Tania's.
It is a low, rasping, wet sound. The sound of lungs filled with sand.
