Silver moved through the ruined study with quick, efficient steps, sweeping aside a collapsed bookshelf to reach the safe built into the wall behind it. The combination gave under his fingers on the third try, hands still not entirely steady, and he pulled the black satellite phone free the moment the door swung open.
"This still work?" Victor asked, watching him power it on.
"It should. Independent battery, independent signal. I had it built specifically so nothing about this house's failures could take it down with it." Silver's thumb moved over the keypad, dialing from memory rather than any stored contact list, and he lifted the phone to his ear.
It rang. And rang.
Victor watched Silver's jaw tighten with every unanswered cycle, the particular stillness of a man refusing to let his face show what his chest was already bracing for.
Nothing. No voicemail, no click of connection, just the same hollow ringing until the call finally dropped on its own.
