melled of old money-leather bindings, beeswax

ter-grey, scarred, but still capable of biting your head off. He was listeni

as drifting, calculating the probability of the lawyer

on the polished mahogany, l

t was a text from

ut a bed isn't a cure. I need the surgeon. In retur

en. The elevator girl. Sh

the corner of his mout

en and twirled it between his fingers. He liked the waiting. He liked knowing she wa

asked. His voice was gravelly, cut

"Just a mouse that wa

e," Arthur grunted

... resourceful

floor surrounded by half-opened cardboard boxes. Her phone lay on a stack

ad she been too fo

. She had pulled up the shareholder list for NewGen Health again. She w

aced a line o

Capital.

now, with his personal number in her phone, made it real. Julian was

int," she whispered

g over a plastic cup of water. She ig

I have teams for that. Tel

t. Pres

ut beneath it, the thrill of th

quickly, her

ller is using a blind trust in the Caymans to funnel

ext. He actually laughed. A short, sharp

said, waving his

listening. H

Sterling Tower. B

it s

nally dismissed the lawyers. He t

convertible bond issuance. It's complex. If he pulls it off, the conver

ons by diluting the value instead of the count," Jul

t," Arthur grunted. "And the trust bylaws tie

the text message vanished instantly. "I'll han

hur warned. "A co

his jacket. "I'm not corn

is phone one last time. Harper hadn't replied to t

o

Arthur Vanderbilt on her screen. She zoomed

up against the wall. Her own eyes

op it," she whispered.

Wednesday. She had two days to pr