Lesson In Loyalty -chapter 3- -

"Protocol," Silas interrupted, his voice low and gravelly, "is what you read in a classroom. Survival is what you learn on the street. By the time backup arrives, Jarek will have flushed the evidence down the sewer, and we’ll be standing here looking like fools. Is that the lesson you want today?"

Kara decides not to expose the ledger to the public. Instead, she confronts Larkin privately, demanding a new plan: legal channels, protections for the orphanage, and a mechanism to curb the council’s power. As dawn breaks, a courier arrives bearing a sealed warrant — signed by an unexpected magistrate whose allegiance is unknown.

"We should call for backup," Kael suggested, his eyes darting to the street, hoping to see the flashing lights of a patrol cruiser. "Protocol dictates—"