d of antiseptic and

bottle of multivitamins. Then, checking the mirr

lister pack insid

. Not by him. That would

ance Corine gave her. She wa

halt in front of her. The windows we

door po

r said from the

paper bag to her ch

in the corner, a laptop open on his knees. He

k up. He held

it t

topped. He knew

m the bag, he

e pulled out the vitam

ffed. "You think t

xt to him. He didn't open it. He didn

eath she didn't kn

t. He pulled out a velvet bo

open

e center sat a ruby the size of a qua

on," he

en at the bracelet, and

. It

grabbed her wrist. He s

ic

ight. To

ode pressing against the

er. Beside it, a number: 110 BPM. He tapped a key, and a second graph appeared, showing the spike in her h

metrics. If you take it off, it alerts me. If your heart rate spikes, i

he sente

ered, the words escaping before

rected. "You're expensive, Audi

"You won't be serving at the Gala

hy

nt anyone else look

the side gate. Merc

t o

pavement. The Suburban sped

was pulling in. The

She was wearing sunglasses, though t

ie's wrist. To the ruby

ved into a smile

wn. But it was too late. T