The room was quiet, the glow from the monitor casting a pale light across Isabella's face. Her father's name stared back at her from the screen like a ghost freshly risen from its grave.
Alexander finally broke the silence. "We need to go deeper into the Circle's hierarchy. If your father was part of this... we might be in more danger than we thought."
Elias tapped at the keyboard, eyes darting. "There's more on this drive. A secure comms log. Codename conversations." He opened one file.
A string of messages appeared—coded dialogue between three codenames:
KING-1
CROWNLESS
> KING-1: "Mercer is slipping. If he fails, the girl must be handled."
CROWNLESS: "She is not a threat. Yet."
L: "You underestimate her. That mistake killed others."
KING-1: "Then let Lazarus fix our mistake."
Elias glanced up. "They were watching you long before Mercer died."
Isabella clenched her fists. "They always knew who I was."
A New Target
Alexander zoomed in on the "CROWNLESS" signature. "We still don't know who this is."
Elias nodded. "But we have a lead. Istanbul was just the first breadcrumb. There's a bank vault in Prague registered under a shell company tied to 'Crownless.' It's heavily guarded, underground, and sealed with multi-tier biometric locks. No one gets in without clearance from inside the Circle."
"Unless we bring the Circle to us," Alexander said darkly.
Isabella turned toward the window, eyes narrowing on the city skyline. "Then we stage a breach. Make enough noise that they have to send someone to investigate."
"And when they do?" Elias asked.
"We follow them back to their king."