"Tonight."
Everyone goes still.
"That's fast," Jace says carefully.
"We don't have time to be slow. The Ministry is looking for me. For Jonah. Every day we wait is a day they get closer." I meet my brother's eyes. "And according to Jinx, Holloway Senior is still tearing the organization apart looking for answers about Edmund. The chaos is useful, but it won't last. We need to move while we still can."
"What about Kreiss himself?" Jonah asks. "Will he be there?"
"Unknown. His schedule is irregular. He travels frequently, maintains multiple residences." I pause. "But even if he's there, we're not engaging him. We get in, get the records, get out. Clean. No casualties unless absolutely necessary. We can’t afford more heat."
"And if it becomes necessary?"
"Then we do what we have to do."
The room is quiet. I can feel the weight of what I'm asking settling over everyone. This isn't planning anymore. This is commitment. Once we move on Kreiss, there's no going back. We become enemies of The Silent in a way we can't undo.
"Questions?" I ask.
Jinx raises his hand like a schoolboy. "What if the vault is biometrically locked? Kreiss isn't going to leave his most sensitive records behind a combination."
"It is biometrically locked. Fingerprint and retinal scan."
"So we need Kreiss."
"No." I pull up another file. "We need his housekeeper."
"His housekeeper?"
"Esmerelda Vasquez. She's worked for Kreiss for fifteen years. She has access to every room in the house, including the vault. He trusts her completely."
"How do you know that?"
"Because apparently he has some kind of hold over her daughter, ensuring compliance. She's been waiting for someone to make a move against her employer. We're that someone."
Jonah leans forward. "You have an inside source?"
"I will contact her discreetly, have her disable the locks at midnight. We have a thirty-minute window before the system resets."
"That's a lot of trust to put in someone we've never met."
"It's the only option we have." I look around the room. "I know it's not ideal. I know there are a hundred ways this could go wrong. But those records are our best shot at exposing Project Omega. At protecting the children in those facilities. At ending this."
Jonah is quiet for a moment, then nods. "Walk us through the interior. Once we're past the perimeter, what are we dealing with?"
I pull up the floor plans. "Main house is three floors. Ground floor is common areas: kitchen, living room, study. Staff quarters are in the east wing. Kreiss's private rooms are upstairs, west wing. The vault is in the basement, accessed through a concealed door in the study."
"Concealed how?"
"Behind a bookshelf. Classic, but effective." I trace the path on the screen. "We enter through the side door here, cross through the kitchen, and reach the study in approximately forty-five seconds. The bookshelf mechanism is triggered by removing a specific volume. Vasquez will ensure it's unlocked."
"What volume?" Jinx asks.
"The Prince. Machiavelli. Kreiss apparently has a sense of humor."
"Or a lack of subtlety." Jonah says with a huff.
Jace leans forward. "What about the vault itself? Once we're through the bookshelf, what are we looking at?"
