Villa 1. Unknown number inside. Windows sealed tight with mirrored glass. Cameras covered every angle with no blind spots. Fuel supplies stacked high.' Lisa paused. She pressed her pencil to the page and added one more note. 'Guns?' She marked it with a sharp question mark. Her son followed in silence. Joe Barnett walked close, his small steps light. He slipped a hand into his pocket, pulled out a piece of candy, and tucked it into his mouth as they moved. Lisa snapped her notebook shut. She glanced down at him. "Joe, do you still have enough candy?" Joe nodded hard. "Enough." Lisa brushed her fingers over his hair. "Good." Inside Villa 1 ... Natalie sat on the sofa in the first-floor hall. Her eyes never left the glowing wall of security feeds. Cassian emerged from the kitchen carrying braised beef in one hand and egg custard in the other. His voice was light and warm. "Nattie, dinner's ready." Natalie kept her eyes forward. She did not answer. Cassian set the food on the dining table. A smile tugged at his mouth. "Done chatting with your friend?" Natalie's tone was clipped and serious. "Yeah. Done." Cassian crossed the room to her side. His brow furrowed. "What's with the look? You're stiff as a board." Natalie lifted the remote. She pointed at one feed and zoomed in tight. "Look here. Tell me if that's a person." Cassian bent closer. He studied the gray fog for several seconds. "No. Just fog twisting in the wind." Natalie made a short sound, set the image back, and kept her eyes pinned to the screens. Cassian sat beside her. "Why so grim?" Natalie's words came fast. "I just talked to Olivia. Someone climbed into her yard." Cassian's brows shot up. "Climbed in?" Natalie nodded sharply. "A woman. She scaled Harold's wall, triggered one of his traps, then vanished before anyone could catch her." The walls in this neighborhood stood high and sheer. Harold's was no exception. Breaking a gate lock was one thing, but scaling those walls by hand should have been near impossible. Especially when there were no ladders around. Yet that woman had done it. Cassian arched a brow. "Sounds like she's got real skill." Natalie's jaw tightened. "Exactly. For a moment I thought she was floating. Like she weighed nothing." She and Cassian could move well, but scaling walls and walking across water? They had no such skills. Cassian shook his head. "No tricks like that. She used something small. A rope. A hook. Something you wouldn't notice." Natalie's frown deepened. "Doesn't matter how she did it. She's dangerous." Silent intruders never came with good intentions. If Harold hadn't wired his garden with traps, she would already be inside his house unseen. Cassian's voice grew tight. "Ghania and the others. They're safe?" Natalie shook her head. "She never touched them. She ran too fast. They didn't even cross paths." Her eyes narrowed. "Olivia swears she ran this way. So I've been watching nonstop. If she even touches our wall, I'll hit her first." Cassian stared at the feeds. "Anything so far?" Natalie shook her head again. "Nothing. The fog cuts everything down. Vision's short. Every frame is washed out." She hesitated, then added, "I thought I saw a shadow in the distance. But it was far. I couldn't be sure." Cassian leaned back, calm and steady. "Doesn't matter if she's out there. If she enters this yard, the cameras will catch her." He rose, gathered the dishes from the table, and placed them on the coffee table in front of the sofa. "Let's eat. We can watch while we eat." Natalie nodded firmly. "Right. We need food in us if we're going to fight." Her voice sharpened again. "I'll ask Harold to rig alarms for us too. Next time, I don't want to waste the night staring at screens." Cassian agreed with ease. "Good plan." They had once relied on round-the-clock guards, and alarms seemed redundant. With no guards now, alarms mattered more than ever. Cassian carried two more plates from the kitchen. One big combo of greens on greens. One plate of salad. Natalie started to stand. Cassian waved her off. "Stay. Keep watching. I'll handle it." They ate side by side at the coffee table, their eyes always drifting back to the monitors. When dinner ended, they waited longer. The screens stayed quiet. No shadow crossed the yard.Natalie rubbed her tired eyes. "That's enough. I'm done staring at these." Cassian's tone was soft. "Go rest—I'll take the watch." Natalie shook her head. "It's alright. Too much time has passed. If she was coming, she'd be here already. She never came our way."