ed with a crisp white duvet, and a bathroom tiled in Italian marble. But there were n

g desk, its contents spilled out. Her wallet was there, her keys, her lip

al knock sounded at the

ss tuxedo stood there, his white hair neatly combed, his po

He gave a slight, formal bow. "My name is Alfred Hayes. I am Mr.

"Where is it? And I want you to tell the captain to

mile touching his lips. "My apologies, madam. We are currently en route to a p

honeymoon, it'

to provide a respite from the pressures of the outside world, all external communication devi

This was the entire Bennett clan, closing ra

slammed the door in his sm

or a moment, she allowed the sheer, crushing weight of her situati

ss. They landed on the small, sleek tablet mounted on the bedside table, its scree

d. A simple, elegant screen offered options for room serv

pe's face. This level of civilian-g

sy bun at the nape of her neck. With the practiced ease of a sur

ntact points she needed, took a breath, and used th

went black.

cross the dark screen, a blur of motion. She wasn't typing words; she was inputtin

e. In its place was the raw, text-based backend of the ya

wall of the main security server as if it were a

ance archives. New York Estat

ed against her ribs as she scrubbed through the footage,

the service exit. She saw herself, slumped and unconscious, being carried out

church. A bride in a magnificent white gown stood at the altar.

ed by a delicate veil, was a m

y. He was smiling. Beaming with pride as he placed his daughter's hand-the wrong daughter's hand-into t

ough Hope's chest. It felt as if a hand had

, a vast, cold ocean. But floating on top of i

s powerful satellite uplink, sent the package to a secure, anonymous

ho had been drugged and sold was gone. The woman who

on the thick carpet. She needed to contact the one person in the world s