?Chapter 1602:
He didn’t pause. Pulling out his encrypted phone, he began typing immediately, documenting the situation, capturing several photographs, and transmitting everything directly to Chris.
Behind Norase Hospital stood a temporary detention building constructed from cold red brick. At the very end of the third-floor corridor sat a sparse room containing only a narrow bed, a in chair, and a small iron-barred window.
Chris remained seated in the chair, hisposure unsettlingly calm for someone being held against his will. His gaze lingered on the pitch-ck night beyond the window, as though waiting for something unseen to arrive.
Then the phone in his pocket vibrated quietly.
His eyes shifted at once. He retrieved the device without dy. Grayson’s photos filled the screen, apanied by a short report: “The ck truck and police car have been found. Engines still warm. No one inside.”
Chris studied the images in silence. A flicker of surprise crossed his face before disappearing just as quickly.
Maia’s earlier message surfaced in his mind without warning. If that yields nothing, check Kolton’s residence.
“Was Maia right?” he wondered. If the covert operatives had moved again, could their next destination truly be Cooper Estate? He couldn’t make sense of it. The estate was crawling with police and rival forces. Returning there would be the same as walking willingly into a trap.
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His fingers tapped lightly against his knee, betraying the speed of his thoughts.
Then understanding struck him—sharp, sudden, and undeniable. A new possibility formed clearly in his mind.
Were these covert operatives here for Kolton’s iris scan? For whatever secrets he had left behind?
A memory surfaced in Chris’s mind. Hidden in Kolton’s study was a top-secret safe—one that only Kolton himself could open. Rumor had it that inside were decades’ worth of “insurance”: incriminating evidence, ckmail material, secrets capable of shaking Wront to its core—perhaps even rattling those higher up the chain.
To ensure nothing ever leaked, Kolton had spared no expense. The safe was the most secure model on the market, protected by cutting-edge live iris-recognition technology. It didn’t merely scan an eye—it required a living person. Even removing the eyeball wouldn’t work.
“So that’s how it is…”
A cold curve touched Chris’s lips. The Shadow wasn’t finished with Kolton yet. Not only were they pushing him out as a scapegoat—they were stripping him of everyst bargaining chip he had.
Just as Chris was about to text his other team with orders to rush to the Cooper residence, footsteps echoed outside the door. Light and firm. The crisp tap of leather soles against stone floor.
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.
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