Three days later, the world burned.
Headlines screamed across every major outlet. *Global Art Fraud Ring Exposed*. *Interpol Raids Dozens of Galleries*. *Anonymous Source Releases Full Blacklist*. No one was safe—politicians resigned, collectors disappeared, reputations collapsed overnight.
But Noura's name?
Nowhere.
Not yet.
Reed had kept his promise—to protect Julian and Ava. But he was playing the long game. The files were being released in waves, strategic and deadly. And Noura's name… was the detonator.
Ava watched it all from their flat in Prague, a scarf wrapped around her hair, sunglasses covering her eyes even indoors. Not from the light.
From exhaustion.
"This feels surreal," she murmured, scrolling through article after article.
Julian sat across from her, silent. He hadn't slept much. Or spoken.
"Did we win?" she asked.
He met her eyes. "I think we just survived."
Then the phone rang.
Not hers. Not Julian's.
A burner.
He picked it up. "Hello?"
A pause.
Then his entire face changed.
He turned to her. "It's Reed."
Ava sat up straighter.
Julian listened for a long time, eyes narrowing. "
Of course — here's the *continuation of Chapter 11*.
---
Julian listened for a long time, eyes narrowing.
Then: "Are you sure?"
A pause.
"Where?"
Another pause.
Then he hung up slowly.
Ava stood. "What is it?"
Julian looked shaken—more than she'd seen him in days. "Reed just intercepted a private transmission. From someone inside Interpol."
"About Noura?"
He nodded. "They released her."
Ava's chest went cold. "*What?* After all that—"
"They didn't have enough," he said. "She wiped her prints from the vault. The gun was untraceable. And she never touched the drive. All they had was an anonymous tip and her presence in a building she once legally owned."
Ava stared at him. "So she's free."
Julian nodded once. "And she's angry."
***
That night, Ava couldn't sleep.
She paced the flat's narrow living room while Julian stared out over the Vltava, rain streaking the window. Prague no longer felt mysterious—it felt exposed. Like Noura's shadow touched every dark corner of the city.
"What do we do now?" Ava whispered.
Julian didn't answer at first.
Then: "We leave."
Ava blinked. "Run?"
"No," he said. "We change the game. If she won't go down by law… we find the one person she fears."
"Who?"
He turned to her.
"Her mentor. The one who taught her how to con. The one who burned her before she could burn him. He disappeared years ago. But I know where he might be."
Ava stepped closer. "And if he helps us?"
Julian's voice turned cold. "Then Noura finally loses control. And she knows it."
A long silence passed between them.
Then Ava said, "Where is he?"
Julian looked down at a worn passport on the table.
And whispered:
"Morocco."