Rain pounded against the study windows as Sarah waited, tension coiling tighter with each passing hour. Diego had been gone for eighteen hours now, his last message cryptically brief: "Contingency implemented. Stay secure."
Robert Walsh paced the room, his former FBI training evident in how he periodically checked windows and monitored security feeds.
"They should have made contact by now," he muttered, checking his watch again.
"Diego knows what he's doing," Sarah replied with more confidence than she felt. Her back ached from sitting too long, the baby restless within her.
The secure phone on Diego's desk chimed—a sound so unexpected that both Sarah and Robert froze momentarily before lunging for it.
Sarah reached it first. "Yes?"
"Package secured," came Antonio's voice, deliberately vague. "En route to secondary location. One hour."
Relief washed through her. "Condition?"
"Stable," Antonio replied. "Minor complications, nothing critical. Primary returning separately."
Diego was comi
