(Private Hospital, Manhattan — Safehouse)
The heart monitor ticked steadily in the sterile silence.
Alia leaned over Carson, extracting the bullet from beneath his shoulder blade with a pair of forceps.
"7.62mm armor-piercing," she muttered, dropping it into a stainless steel tray with a metallic clink.
"Davies is tapping military assets now."
Carson lay pale but lucid on the bed.
"The deed and receipt were duplicates. The originals are in Zurich, under your birthdate as the access code."
Suddenly, he grabbed her wrist.
"Why did Marta take you to Lithuania ten years ago?"
Alia's pupils contracted—
Even Davies didn't know that detail.
The door slammed open.
Sophie Vance burst in, phone raised, streaming live.
"Breaking news! Horizon's CEO and a senior Davies exec caught cohabiting in secret!"
Her camera swept over bloodied bandages and shattered calm.
Carson snatched the IV stand and hurled it—
Glass shattered around them.
In the chaos, Alia caught a glimpse of a mark on Sophie's neck—
A serpent-shaped tattoo, identical to the design on Davies' vault key.