Chapter 56 Power Play

***Hazel***

The quiet is what tricks me.

It’s been days. Actual days without chaos. No journalists. No blocked calls. No strange men standing across the street pretending to smoke. Security has loosened just enough that it feels like trust again instead of containment.

I let my shoulders drop for the first time in weeks.

That’s when the door locks behind me.

The sound is soft. Final.

I turn slowly