Chapter 25 · Untitled Chapter

Bandar did not return to his seat. Instead, he unfastened the dark leather portfolio resting against the marble credenza and withdrew three heavy sheets of bonded paper, each bearing the distinct embossed seal of the estate’s private transport registry.

He laid them flat upon the low lacquer table between us, smoothing down the edges with the slow, deliberate press of his thumb.

"Look at the dispatch routing," he said, stepping back just enough to allow me space over the documents, though his shadow remained cast across the table, broad and unyielding.

"The audio file played in the majlis warned of armed escorts coming to the northern perimeter to claim you. It was delivered through an encrypted line at nine tonight. But the clearance order for that identical convoy was registered six days ago, stamped not from a rival compound or an external claimant, but from the terminal in the east office."

I leaned forward, my fingers brushing the cold paper. The ink was crisp, the clearance reference unmistakable: an internal freight permit issued under the house account, authorizing three darkened SUVs to idle at the secondary gate under the pretext of intercepting a threat.