Page 65 of Override

Learn the difference, mo stóirín.

And somewhere beneath all the anxiety and confusion twisting through me now—my instincts are strangely calm. I should say no. I should block the number. Tell Ronan. Pretend none of this ever happened.

Instead, with slightly shaking fingers, I type:

Yes.

This time there’s no delay at all. The response comes instantly this time.

Unknown:

Okay. Go upstairs.

My hands shake before I even finish reading it. I stare at the message. Then toward the empty hallway beyond the kitchen. Then back at the screen again.

Unknown:

Take your phone. Don’t tell staff where you’re going.

The calm certainty in the messages sends another wave of adrenaline through me.

Still—I move. Slowly at first. Then faster once I reach the staircase. The estate feels impossibly quiet around me today. No Sandra. Minimal staff movement. Security chatter faint somewhere downstairs.

My phone vibrates again the second I reach the upstairs landing.

Unknown:

Turn left.

I do. The hallway camera nearest the guest wing shifts, slow and deliberate, toward the opposite wall. . My footsteps stop instantly. The camera stays there. Not watching me. A chill races sharply down my spine. Oh my God.

The phone buzzes again.

Unknown:

Keep walking.

I should stop. I should absolutely stop. Instead my heart pounds harder while I continue down the hallway toward the back staircase leading toward the lower garage entrance. Every camera I pass turns away moments before I reach it. Not dramatic movements. Tiny. Subtle. Like the house itself is quietly looking elsewhere.

My breathing grows uneven by the time I reach the lower level. No alarms. No guards.

Nothing.

The garage access door clicks open before I even touch the handle. I freeze.

The phone vibrates.

Unknown:

Blue Range Rover. Second row.

I stare at the screen in complete disbelief. Then toward the waiting SUV.

This is insane. Actually insane.

And yet somehow my body keeps moving anyway.

The garage is empty except for the soft hum of fluorescent lighting overhead while my pulse pounds violently enough to make my hands shake.