ing estate swung open, and

shattered inche

otchy, her chest heaving beneath a diamond necklace that cost more t

e shards of glass. S

in. Bryce and Chloe walked in, hand in ha

ping with false sweetness. "She's just

ted up th

locking the banister. "Apo

t her wrist. Twenty minute

n Victoria's face. For the first time in y

va said. Her tone was flat, factual. "And

of color. "You liar!

at Nova, his jaw tightening. He chose the lie.

sidestepped Victoria

rters-she knelt by the bed. She reached underneath and pul

hree hard drives, a stack of polaroids held together by a rubb

ver one shoulder an

tch. "If you walk out that door, I am cutting you off. No

ard-the supplementary one Richard Sterling had given her for

g," Nova said. "From tod

, barking sound. "Without us, yo

"I have a mission with the Natio

one second before t

"NSA? You? Are you going to be the janito

of pity in his eyes. "You've

She didn't look back. She wa

ition. ETA?"

ice crackled in her e

et with dew soaking through her cheap heels, heading f

at the butler. "Lock the doors! If she

ked out the floor-to-ceiling window. The tre

und vibrated the g

house, rattling the win