For one full second, nobody in the group thread said anything at all. Carter stood frozen near the lobby wall, watching Mark stride out of the elevator car with the brisk, self-important energy of a man who had never once in his life considered that anyone might be actively working against him. He didn't look toward the service corridor. He didn't look toward Carter at all. His attention was entirely on his phone, thumb scrolling through something that had put a faint, irritated frown on his face.
"He's here," Carter breathed into his earpiece, forcing his voice level. "Lobby. Walking toward the executive elevators. He hasn't clocked me."
"Chloe, status," Viktor's voice cut in, tight and controlled in a way that made the danger feel more real than any amount of shouting would have.
Chlo
