Shadow in the Wings

The following evening, the Palais Garnier was transformed into a fortress of gilded opulence and invisible steel. Outside the grand neoclassical facade on Place de l’Opéra, flashing blue emergency lights of the French National Police illuminated the rain-slicked boulevards. Over two hundred armed officers in dress uniforms formed a security perimeter around the building, while sixty private tactical operatives from Vance Security, clad in discreet black tuxedos with encrypted earpieces,…