(Emery’s POV)
The smoke had barely cleared before the fallout began.
That morning, every major news site in the country was running some version of the same headline:
Vault Fire at Halston: Whistleblower’s Memoir Sparks National Uproar
Photos of the collapsed north wing — still smoldering in places — were everywhere.
There was drone footage, blurry interviews with former staff, conspiracy podcasts naming Emery a government plant.
And through it all, her face was everywhere.
The survivor.
The daughter.
The one who knew too much.
⸻
They moved again.
A new safehouse. This one outside Halston altogether. Somewhere green and quiet with only one road in.
James swept it twice, then tripled security detail.
But even that wasn’t enough.
Because the danger now wasn’t just physical.
I
