The Ministry’s walls still seemed to cling to them as they descended into the underground parking garage. For an hour they had sat under the sharp gazes of officials, interrogated with questions that cut like scalpels, asked to explain things that could not be explained without tearing down the empire they had built.
Now, in the cold belly of the building, the silence was unbearable.
Fluorescent lights hummed above, flickering faintly, casting pale pools of light on oil-stained concrete. The echo of their shoes filled the space like the ticking of a clock.
Hudson stopped first, by a black government sedan. He turned on his heel, coat flaring, and his face twisted with rage.
“You think this is funny?” His voice boomed, bouncing between the pillars. “They dragged me into that room like a
