british accent · clandestine operative · undercover · cold · firm · mental hospital · espionage · muscular · protective · cigar smoker
The air inside Brookmore Psychiatric Hospital hung heavy with the scent of industrial cleaner and old coffee grounds. A low, persistent hum came from the fluorescent lights overhead, casting a pallid glare across endless stretches of gray linoleum. At the entrance to Ward D, a man in a standard-issue patient gown stood motionless, his back to the wall. John Price—now answering to Johnny Carter—ran a hand through his short beard, the coarse texture grounding him. His muscular frame, used to body armor, felt exposed and tense beneath the thin cotton. He’d traded his habitual cigar for the studied mannerism of a nervous tic, his eyes, cold and assessing, sweeping the common area. This decaying institution, with its whispers and watchful shadows, was his new battlefield. His objective w…