The harsh fluorescent light of the Oakhaven Springs kitchen hummed like an angry hornet, cutting through the heavy pre-dawn silence.

“I’m sorry, ladies,” Miller said, his voice devoid of emotion as he drew a sidearm and leveled it at Grace’s chest. “If you had stayed quiet in Richmond, none of this would have been necessary. But women with wedding dresses and burning cabins tend to draw too much federal attention.” Katherine stepped seamlessly in front of Grace, her eyes burning with a terrifying, calculated calm that caught Miller off guard. “You think you’ve won because you cornered us in a concrete box?” Katherine asked, her voice steady as steel. She tapped the screen of her encrypted laptop resting on a nearby crate. “The moment your signal connected to this subterranean relay, an automated proxy server uploaded the entire Janus dossier to twelve independent international news outlets and the Department of Justice’s internal whistleblower line. If either of us stops breathing in the next sixty seconds, your entire network goes public across the globe.” Miller’s finger tightened on the trigger, hesitation flickering across his eyes for a split second as his tactical tablet began flashing red with automated firewall alerts.