he penthouse required a k

ht flashed red, then green. The doors slid open,

worse in go

lip had swollen, splitting fresh when she tried to straighten her face. The coat she clut

the foyer and n

omewhere in the apartment, a clock ticked with mechanical precision,

Shep

ping her hands on her apron. The housekeeper

Oh my God, w

d up one ha

teen years, long enough to know the boundaries, long enough to recog

smooth, practiced. "I was at a gallery op

espite the tremor in her hands. "At least let me g

small, dark spot on the marble wh

f the words were in a foreign language.

ease. Let me call Dr. Chen. Or the ho

softened it, seeing Brenda flinch. "No doctors.

g the damage she couldn't hide. The limp. The way she held he

alled. About an hour ago. He said he landed safely and wou

ressed against her ribs, went st

s voice was careful. "That you were p

nodded slowly. "

ood alone in the foyer, dripping on the marble, and wondered how much longer she

usekeeper set it on the bathroom counter, her eyes still wide

lk blouse was torn at the shoulder, stained with rust-colored water. Her skirt w

hower. Hot. As hot

it her bruised skin. Then the heat came, building, and she lean

n brown for

ooklyn with it. The fear. The desperation. The moment when

hot water started to cool, until she couldn't f

be, technically, thick Turkish cotton, monogrammed with ini

iodine in a small brown bottle. The label wa

rror and pulled her wet

ite of subcutaneous tissue at its center, the edges already da

o a cotton pad and pr

the robe's belt, muffling the sound that tried to escape. Her eyes watered

rst of it. The lip, she left alon

No label. Dr. Chen's discreet handwriting on the prescription p

o her palm. White, oval

llowed

mbed into the guest bed and pulled the covers to he

yes and waited f

nd her

The boots.

ing an hour, each breath burning. The walls closed in, brick scr

, but her voice came out as a

rotting meat and sweet decay, and something moved in the darkness

o," she

in, blinding, and she saw his face a

her without

ammed down, and she was alone in th

ing at the sheets, her heart try

the Manhattan skyline through the window,

ow beside her. Cold.

broken, hunted sleep, and now she was awake in the

her breaths, waiting f

king up too. Probably reaching for his phone, checking markets, checking m

was still asleep, tangled in sheets tha

il sa

make her gasp. She pressed her hand against the bandage on he

idn't

s. The city spread below her, indifferent, magnificent, full of pe

ld surv

d worse. She wo

the way she'd held onto the broken glass in the alley, knowing

sun cleared the buildings, until th

t to find mo

re for whate