Chapter 5 - The Guest Near the Rear Exit
The unidentified guest was Dr. Adrian Cole.
Sarah recognized him only after he turned toward the locked doors.
Twenty-two years earlier, Adrian had been a junior analyst attached to her team.
Official records claimed he died in the safe-house attack.
Sarah saw no body.
Only a burned identification card.
Now he wore an expensive tuxedo and stood among donors at the Vance gala.
Older.
Thinner.
Alive.
“Adrian.”
He stopped.
Elias looked at him with open hatred.
Sarah lowered Maya carefully into the arms of a female doctor who had stepped from the crowd.
“Check her breathing. Don’t move her out of my sight.”
The doctor nodded.
Sarah moved toward Adrian.
Jonathan recovered near the chairs.
“My family will bury you for this.”
Sarah did not look at him.
Adrian’s eyes remained fixed on the storage device.
“You shouldn’t have come.”
“You sent for me.”
“No.”
“Then who did?”
His expression shifted.
Fear.
Not for himself.
For Maya.
Adrian looked toward the balcony.
Sarah followed his gaze.
A shadow moved behind the upper railing.
The ballroom lights cut out completely.
Guests gasped.
Sarah dropped low and activated the night optic built into her vest.
A figure crossed the balcony.
One hand held a compact electronic device.
The other reached toward the main security junction.
Sarah raised her encrypted phone and triggered an emergency override.
Dim red lighting returned.
The figure vanished through a service door.
Adrian moved toward Sarah.
Elias shouted for security to restrain him.
No one obeyed.
The guards’ earpieces had been overridden by an outside command.
Adrian whispered:
“The device in Maya’s clutch is incomplete.”
“What’s missing?”
“The name.”
“Whose name?”
“The person who ordered Daniel’s death.”
Sarah went still.
Across the ballroom, Maya opened her eyes.
She looked directly at Adrian.
“I know where the second half is.”
May you like
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