Katarina's operations commenced at precisely 0600 hours across six time zones simultaneously. Ral monitored updates through encrypted channels while compound security maintained heightened alert protocols, aware that network leadership might attempt preemptive retaliation if they detected incoming strikes."First target down," Katarina reported via secure video link from undisclosed location. "Geneva operation successful. Primary eliminated, secondary wounded but secured for interrogation. No civilian casualties. Team extracting now."Louis paced the command center with journalist's frustrated inability to document what was happening. This was the story—coordinated international assassination operation eliminating criminal network—but she could never write it, never expose it, never fulfill her professional obligation to inform public about violence conducted in shadows."Second target," Katarina continued as updates streamed in. "Tokyo strike encountered complications. Building secur

Three months into Portland normalcy, Louis sat in editorial meeting at The Oregonian where she had secured freelance position writing investigative pieces about local government corruption. Her byline was her own again—Louis Anderson, not Sarah Miller or any other fiction. The restoration felt both liberating and terrifying, her name publicly visible to anyone searching for survivors of the Volkov conspiracy."Strong piece on the zoning commission," her editor commended, reviewing Louis's latest article. "You have instinct for finding corruption hidden in bureaucratic processes. Where did you develop that skill?""Previous work in New York," Louis replied carefully, truth edited to exclude international conspiracies and murdered oligarchs. "Covered city government and financial systems. Pattern recognition transfers across jurisdictions."The editor nodded, already moving to next item on agenda. Louis's past was simultaneously her greatest asset—years of investigative experience—and h