“Do not touch that handprint,” Alphonsus ordered.Red streaks marked the inner face of the heavy door. The blood was fresh.“Has anyone heard movement?” Alphonsus asked.“No, sir. We called repeatedly. Nothing.”“Then stop treating silence as proof he is dead. Secure both ends of this corridor. Nobody enters or leaves without Cindy's approval.”Cindy took the radio from the guard. “Two teams at the stairwell. One at the service passage. Check every adjoining room, but do not disturb anything near this door.”Diana moved closer. “That is the guard who was wounded?”“The blood trail ends here,” Cindy answered.Alphonsus examined the handprint. The fingers were spread wide, as if the injured man had tried to brace himself against the door. He pressed his palm against the metal. The Ring remained silent.He tried the established access plate. Nothing moved. The mechanism gave no sound, no click, not even th

The security chief still held the metal plate.Alphonsus reached for it, but pain tightened beneath his ribs before his fingers closed around its edge. Cindy took the plate and placed it on the table.she read the inscription. “Someone added those words recently.”“Get me the tunnel plans.”“The man we rescued?” Alphonsus asked.“Stable for now,” Diana answered. “The medical team has taken him upstairs. His leg is badly injured, but he is conscious.”“Keep someone with him. I want his statement when he is strong enough.”Diana studied her son. “You have just collapsed. You cannot go underground.”“I won't leave an unknown route beneath Ashford in Victor's hands.”Cindy spread the recovered plate beside the plans brought from the estate records room. She compared the crest with an older architectural drawing, then traced a narrow line beneath the city's eastern quarter.“This passage connects to

The vehicle struck the ground hard as the guards dragged the prisoner sideways. Its bumper missed him by inches, but the front corner smashed into the perimeter barrier. Metal screamed. One guard fell beneath the spray of broken glass while another was thrown against the gatepost. “Driver!” Cindy shouted. The vehicle reversed, wheels spinning over gravel. A guard raised his weapon, but Alphonsus lifted a hand. “Keep the prisoner alive. Do not fire blindly.” The driver swerved through the damaged entrance and disappeared beyond the outer road before the security team could close the gap. The guards secured the gate, checked their injured colleague, and moved the captive behind the remaining barrier. He was breathing, shaking, and bleeding from a cut above his eye. “Medical team. Now,” Alphonsus ordered. Pain tightened his ribs as he stepped fo