Chapter 20
The safehouse
Cassian sat on the bench with his back against the wall
They'd gone back.
Kessler first.
Then Morita.
Same result.
Dr. Sara Chen's name didn't move either of them. No hesitation. No tells. No coded silence. Just confusion that looked real enough to be useless.
"She wasn't one of our surgeons," Morita had said.
"Kessler never heard of her," Christian summarized.
Cassian exhaled through his nose. "Or they're lying really well."
"Maybe," Christian said. "But that would require coordination."
Junior stopped stretching. "You saying it wasn't planned?"
"I'm saying," Christian replied, "that we're assuming intent because we expect it."
Silence settled again.
They'd traced what they could. Hospital records. Public filings. Professional overlaps. Everything that should have connected Dr. Sara Chen to Rask, Elias, or the surgeons they already knew.
Nothing held.
No pressure points.
No leverage.
No obvious cleanup.
Cassian frowned. "People don't just die in the middle of this and mean nothing."
Christian didn't answer right away.
When he finally spoke, his voice was measured. "They do, if we're looking at the wrong layer."
Junior sat up. "So what, it's just a coincidence?"
Christian hesitated.
"That's the possibility we're avoiding," he said. "Because if it is—then Elias didn't hide anything. He didn't need to."
Cassian didn't like that.
If Chen mattered, they were blocked.
If she didn't, they were chasing noise.
—--------------
Elias checked the time before dialing.
It rang twice.
"Yeah," the voice on the other end said.
"I had a question," Elias replied. "Purely procedural."
A pause.
"There's a juvenile case I glanced at recently," "How early can we move something like if at all?"
Another pause. Longer this time.
"That depends," the voice said carefully. "Nothing guaranteed."
"Of course," Elias said. "I figured as much."
Silence stretched. Elias didn't fill it.
"Send me an email with the first and last name , I'll take a look," the voice added finally. "Can't promise anything."
"Understood," Elias replied. "Appreciate you checking."
The call ended.
Elias set the phone down and reached for a thin folder on his desk. He opened it, skimmed the contents once, then closed it again.
"Worth a shot," he murmured.
The phone rang a few minutes later .
Elias didn't look surprised when he answered.
"Based on the file," the voice said, "best case scenario… as early as tomorrow."
Elias smiled faintly.