, no number, nothing to indicate it was a place of busines

, she walked up the stone steps

ost immediately. A waiter in a t

ound, and the only light came from antique sconces on the walls. The air was still and smelled of old woo

cruelty. She had endured Walter's shouting. She had sat in the Zenith lobby while Is

r at the end of the long hallway and

ted by a large, mahogany table set for two. I

oured a glass of ice water, and then ret

atch echoed in the

ows. It was a perfectly sealed, soundproof box. She pulle

didn't have a frequency jammer. A normal business dinner didn't lock you in a room with no windows

les easily. She took a sip of water, the cold liquid doing nothing to calm the frantic beating

ump-thump of an old grandfather clock in the corner. S

move, designed to put her on edge, to establish

ade women wait in windowless rooms until their nerves were frayed and their defenses were down. She had read

. Just get through the

the hall-heavy, confident strid

an to turn. A sharp cl

shot to her feet, her eyes glued to

fifties, with a fleshy face, a paunch that strained against his ex

e spread across his face-the kind of smile that sa

is voice smooth as oil.

latch clicked shut with a finality

ble slowly, his eyes never leaving her, like a man s

ches from her. "You're the one who got Isaac Harre

ir, his fingers brushing her cheek in a gestu