Chapter One Hundred and Thirty Two
The screen dimmed to grayscale as the first three armored vehicles rolled away. The reflection of Asli's silhouette lingered longer than she did, paused at the Villa's perimeter before she finally slid into the back seat of the last vehicle and disappeared behind bulletproof glass.
Inside the surveillance room, the silence was its own noise.
Markus did not say a word. Not because he had nothing to say… he always had something to say— but because there was not a joke that could lift the heaviness sitting in the room. Even the hum of the monitors sounded like mourning.
Ahmet stood with his arms crossed, his eyes still glued to the screen long after the feed went black. There was a sharpness in his jaw, his teeth clenched tight enough to crack bone.
He was not watching for movement anymore. He was staring into the empty frame like it owed him answers. Like he had missed something vital in the static and silence.
