"We can deal with accountability after we find her."
Hillary had indeed left a gap in the security net, but their overall planning had been flawed.
They should have embedded Hillary as a transfer student right from the start.
Even if her cover was eventually blown, it would have been better than this disaster.
And the classmate they used as leverage against Claire-who could have predicted Felicity would exploit him so brutally?
Hillary forced herself to focus.
Silas was right; now was not the time for self-blame.
"Captain, look at this!" A tech analyst pulled up a traffic feed.
It was an ambulance-the only vehicle that had rapidly departed the immediate radius of the abandoned second decoy car.
"An ambulance? Are they heading to a hospital?"
If they were using an ambulance as their final extraction vehicle, which hospital did it belong to?
Silas ordered an immediate trace. In seconds, they confirmed the plates belonged to The Serenity Grand Hospital.
"What kind of hospital is that?" Silas had never heard of it.
"The Serenity Grand is a private clinic, mostly specializing in high-end cosmetic surgery."
"It's extremely popular with wealthy socialites for anti-aging treatments. They offer specialized injections that supposedly reverse aging overnight."
"It's an imported drug, likely smuggled, since it hasn't been approved for use in Solenia..."
Hillary explained as she sprinted toward her SUV.
She knew exactly where the hospital was located.
"Who owns this place?"
Silas felt a creeping sense of dread.
If the Syndicate had simply hijacked an ambulance, that was one thing.
But if the hospital itself was compromised, it meant the ambulance was a coordinated asset.
That would escalate the difficulty of breaching the location tenfold.
Silas's tactical instincts were razor-sharp.
Hillary actually knew the
background. When she had first transferred out of active military service, a wealthy friend had tried to drag her to Serenity Grand for skin-lightening treatments.
Her friend had raved about the place.
But the moment Hillary learned Serenity Grand was heavily backed by Sundara investors-even though a Solenian doctor acted as the face of the board-she had developed an immediate disgust for the
establishment and refused to go.
The treatments might have been effective, but she had absolutely no use for them.
She hadn't truly retired; she had just transitioned to deep-cover security.
Her job required her to blend into the shadows. Why on earth would she want glowing, porcelain skin?
"It's a Sundara front!"
Hillary's expression turned lethal as she said it.
Silas's face hardened into a mask of pure ice.
He pulled out his phone. "Chief Garrison, my team tracked the targets to..."
"A full lockdown of Serenity Grand is our only tactical option right now."
Silas couldn't be entirely sure the operatives were hiding inside, but securing the perimeter was the only way to ensure Claire didn't vanish into thin air.
Arthur Garrison listened to the rapid debriefing. "Locking down a private hospital of that tier will trigger massive political prowback. Confirm if the ambulance has actually
returned to the facility first
"If it has, I'll sign the order. If it hasn't, we'll launch a stealth investigation into the
hospital after we recover the hostage."
Silas knew it was the smartest tactical play.
"Hillary already noted their clientele consists almost entirely of ultra-wealthy elites. That means Serenity Grand has deep political connections."
Arthur warned Silas not to go in guns blazing without hard evidence.
Those socialites might not hold official power, but their pillow talk with the city's billionaires and politicians could turn this into a bureaucratic nightmare. However, the moment intel confirmed the ambulance had indeed pulled into Serenity Grand's underground bay, Arthur Garrison lost his patience.
"Lock down Serenity Grand immediately! Nobody goes in, nobody comes out!"
Not only was the hospital locked down, but the surrounding city blocks were instantly barricaded by SWAT units. Unless the Syndicate could sprout wings, they weren't leaving.