Author POV

Stephanie held her phone tightly, pressing it against her ear as she tried to hear over the noise of the campaign hall. The voice on the other end was shaky, nervous.

“Ma’am… I just wanted to give you a quick update,” the man said. “We’ve tried tracing Giovanni’s phone. The IP address can’t be located—it’s either masked or turned off completely. She’s off the grid, but we’ll keep searching.”

Stephanie’s expression hardened immediately. “What do you ...