The rally was scheduled for the afternoon.Roman showed up at the venue by eleven. The stadium parking area was already packed with cars and people. Banners flapped in the morning wind while vendors lined the edges of the crowd, selling water, caps, and buttons featuring Halden’s face. At the north end of the grounds, a stage had been set up, complete with huge screens and speakers the size of small refrigerators. About fifteen thousand people were expected, and judging by how the crowd kept growing, that number would easily be reached.Roman went in through a side gate marked “STAFF ONLY.” Carlos followed closely behind him, walking just two steps back. A slim leather bag hung from Carlos’s shoulder. Inside that bag was a printed transcript.Carlos did not ask Roman what he planned to do with it. He never questioned him or tried to understand the details. In the car earlier, he had simply handed the bag over without a word, as if he already accepted that Roman had a reason for every

The envelope showed up with no courier label, no sender details, only a silver seal Roman recognized at once. The mark of Greaves International, the private intelligence agency that dealt with problems too sensitive for official systems. Its director, Marcus Vane, still carried a debt to Roman that could never truly be settled. Six years earlier, Roman had saved his daughter during a kidnapping case that never reached the press. Messages from Vane were rare, and when they came, it was never good news.Roman opened the seal alone in his study. Inside was just one typed sheet, it was plain, stripped of anything unnecessary, written in cold, clinical language.SUBJECT: Cross, Damian. Inmate #4471-K.FACILITY: Blackwood Containment Centre, Sector 4.INCIDENT: Coordinated breach. 6 days prior. Two security officers deceased. Three inmates hospitalised. Subject Cross extracted during medical transfer. Transport ambushed 50 miles from facility. All escort personnel lost. Current location: U