umbers climbed

s. The cut on her cheek had stopped bleeding, but it

nding in the corner of the elevator

d her hea

's younger brother.

lizing she was saying too much but unable to stop. "To

her eyes fo

disasters. The Bowens and the Crawfords,

i

pened to th

evator. She pressed the '

teppe

he city skyline through the panoramic windows. The

ched under

tal tumbler lay shatter

you k

d in shadow. The blue light of a tablet illum

n tossed the tablet onto the coffee

showed Brit

ard her, kicking a piece of

rd out like poison. "She's a

e held out her hands,

to me!" A

papers from the table

itting her chest, her face. They

ansfers. Arvo Crawford t

a dangerous whisper. "Is facing an embezzleme

ed to th

an i

ed at th

rs," Alek sai

s of the crystal tumbler

your

hesi

" he co

shard of jagged crystal. She picked

for another.

le against the marble,

A sharp inta

ang in the air for an eternity before falling, a single,

snapped to

n't look triumphant. He looked sick. A faint sheen of sweat broke ou

pot on the carpet, the

id. His voice

up the glass. She

e coffee table, sending it skidding acros

g the shards of glass in her good h

y and backed tow

turn away, running his hands ove

y at her. He w

eding thumb. The pain

hought. He can't stand t