“She’s lying.” Kieran pulled against the guard holding him.
“She planted the gun.
She must be working for the Russians.”
The accusation was so desperate that even the cook looked away.
Norah folded her hands over her apron.
“I never touched your weapon.”
“You expect him to believe you?” Kieran spat.
“You clean floors.”
“No,” she said.
“I expect him to check the chamber.”
Everyone looked toward the pistol lying on the foyer table.
Killian picked it up with a folded handkerchief.
He examined the weapon without touching the trigger.
The serial number had been filed away.
A round sat in the chamber.
The suppressor was warm from having been fitted and tested recently.
Kieran tried another laugh.
“A backup weapon.
You taught me to carry one.”
“Under the left arm,” Killian said.
“Not behind the spine.”
Kieran’s eyes flicked toward Norah.
That glance said more than his denial.
Killian placed the pistol back on the table.
“Search the vehicle.”
The guards opened every compartment of the armored SUV.
They found nothing beneath the seats, nothing inside the glove box, and nothing behind the reinforced door panels.
Kieran’s confidence began to return.
“See?” he said.
“This is madness.”
Norah continued watching him.
When a guard opened the trunk, Kieran did not react.
When another pulled up the spare-tire cover, he remained still.
But when the first guard reached beneath the driver’s seat, Kieran’s jaw tightened.
“There,” Norah said.
The guard felt along the metal rail and removed a small black phone held in place with magnetic tape.
Kieran stopped breathing for half a second.
Killian noticed.
The phone required no passcode.
It contained only a handful of messages, all sent through an encrypted application.
The names had been replaced with symbols, but the newest exchange was plain enough.
Blue tie confirmed.
Front steps at 8:20.
Roof has sightline.
Driver will hold him at the rear door.
Killian read each line without speaking.
Norah remembered Kieran waiting beside the rear passenger door.
She remembered the two fingers rising from the steering wheel.
She remembered the flash of glass near the chimney.
The plan had been simple because betrayal usually was.
Kieran would open the rear door.
Killian would pause for less than two seconds before entering.
The sniper would fire from the roof.
Kieran would claim the shooter had breached the estate from outside, then drive away through the confusion.
The armored SUV would have protected him from the guards long enough to reach the gate.
One warning beside a mirror had destroyed the timing.
