POV: Isabella
The safe house had become a clock, ticking down to an unseen hour. Each check-in with Xavier was a brief, coded pulse of life from the outside world. Isabella existed in a state of suspended animation, her universe confined to beige walls and the glowing rectangle of the burner phone. Her discovery of the Swiss clinic record was a live wire in her hands, but she was insulated, unable to touch the world it could electrify.
Then, his message came, not during a scheduled window, but in a jarring, midday buzz.
> We have a sample from C. Comparison in motion. Need you to initiate contact with the clinic. Use the trust details. Pose as V. Thorne’s legal assistant. Inquire about “specimen verification for estate planning.” Authorize the comparison against a new sample we will
