“Full operational mobilization,” I tell him. “Every resource we have goes toward locating Diana. Pull contacts from federal agencies, local law enforcement, private intelligence networks. I want building-by-building searches of every property Lorenzo owns or has accessed in the past year.”
“That level of mobilization costs—”
“I don’t care what it costs.” My voice hardens into something Pavel will recognize as non-negotiable. “Find her before Lorenzo decides she’s more valuable dead than alive. Everything else is secondary.”
“Understood.” Pavel pauses. “What’s the extraction protocol?”
The question demands honesty about what I’m authorizing. Standard extraction would mean tactical team deployment, controlled entry, minimal casualties designed to retrieve the asset without triggering broader conflict.
That’s not what I’m planning.
“Lethal force authorized against anyone who interferes,” I say quietly. “I want Diana back alive. Everyone else is expendable.”
Pavel’s silence stretches long enough that I know he’s measuring the implications. Authorizing lethal force against Sartore personnel transforms this from retaliation into openwar. The council will demand explanations I won’t be able to provide that satisfy organizational protocols.
“I’ll coordinate with tactical teams,” he says finally. “Felix… when this is over, when Diana is safe, you’ll need to answer for decisions you’re making right now.”
“I know.”
The call ends.
I return to the image on the tablet, studying details I missed during the initial emotional reaction. The room Diana is held in has industrial shelving visible in the background, the kind used for warehouse inventory storage. The lighting suggests commercial-grade fixtures rather than residential. The concrete floor shows tire marks consistent with vehicle traffic.
It’s the warehouse district. Probably within thirty miles of the city given extraction timeline constraints. Likely Sartore-owned or affiliated property that wouldn’t trigger suspicion if occupied unexpectedly.
I forward the image to our intelligence analyst with instructions to cross-reference every detail against known Sartore properties. Then I pull up building permits, utility records, corporate filings, anything that might narrow the search parameters.
Hours blur together. Coffee appears on my desk at intervals I don’t track.
Oleg provides updates on retaliatory strikes that are devastating Sartore operations exactly as intended.
Pavel coordinates with tactical teams preparing for extraction scenarios across multiple potential locations.
The council sends three separate requests for briefing. I ignore all of them.
Diana’s safety overrides organizational protocols, political considerations, and the strategic alliances I’ve spent years building. If retrieving her costs me everything else, that’s a trade I’ll make without hesitation.
The realization should concern me more than it does.
At three in the morning, our intelligence analyst identifies a match. Warehouse property in an industrial district forty minutes outside the city, registered to a shell corporation with documented ties to Sartore logistics. Utility records show power usage spiking in the past six hours despite the building being listed as vacant.
The tactical team mobilizes within twenty minutes.
I ride in the lead vehicle, wearing body armor for the first time in years, carrying a sidearm I haven’t fired outside range practice since my twenties. Pavel tries once to convince me to coordinate from remote command. I shut him down with a look.
Diana is in that building. I’m not coordinating her extraction from behind a desk.
The convoy approaches the warehouse district with lights off, vehicles spreading to cover multiple entry points. Thermal imaging confirms at least eight people inside—six clustered near what appears to be a central room, two rotating perimeter positions.
The tactical team lead outlines breach protocol through my earpiece. I acknowledge the plan without fully processing it, focused entirely on the thermal signature that might be Diana in that central room.
“Breach in thirty seconds.”
Chapter Twenty-Two - Diana
The grab happens so smoothly I don’t realize I’m being taken until I’m already in the vehicle. One moment I’m following the event coordinator toward what she said was a private gallery viewing Felix arranged as a surprise.
The next, her hand is clamped over my mouth and someone else is pulling a hood over my head while strong arms lift me off my feet.
