I knew before I saw him.
Before any visual confirmation, before even hearing his name spoken out loud, something in the air shifted. The city was never exactly quiet, but that morning the noise felt more… alert. As if everything were waiting for a single wrong step.
Daniel had arrived.
The confirmation came in a banal way, almost insulting in its simplicity: a short, objective call from the manager of the most expensive hotel in town. One of my suppliers. A man who knew how to recognize danger when it walked through the door carrying politely forged documents and a smile that never reached the eyes.
— He asked about you — he said. — Not by name. By position.
That was enough.
I hung up without saying anything else and stood there for a few seconds, my phone still pressed to my ear. My
