her, on autopilot, to the small park at the end of her block. She sank onto a woode

the words over and over until they blurred. Senator

rmth and stability. But the name she carried-Hayes-had always been a quiet mystery. She had asked about it once as a child, and her mother had simply said it w

ayes... it was given to us when we adopted you. It was the name on your original birth docume

blouse. There it was, pale against her skin but distinct: a tiny, perfect crescent moon

he thought was even more terrifying. The Hayes family was a pillar of the Washington establishment. To b

dering breath, she

red immediately. "Senator Hayes's

returning your message." Her own vo

uman. "Ms. Hayes. Thank you so much for calling back. The Senator

rt stuttered. A

dler, had recently gotten a hit through a new genealogical database. The timeline, the location, the sparse details the

with the Senator and Mrs. Hayes? Or, if you prefer, we could start with a simple DNA comparison, a

that had served her so well in the lawyer's office, began to form. Th

ink about this," she sa

derstanding immediate. She gave Genevieve her

sun began to set, the sky turning a bruised purple. T

ot changed. She had

e familiar, anonymous space a comfort in the

'Senator Dickson

yped: 'Roman P

e funds to a highly-rated corporate intelligence firm. Her instructions were simple and precise: a full workup on Roman Properties' financials, with a focus

back in less than an hour. I

was suspiciously low, suggesting they knew they had no competition. The city official overseeing the contract had

a personal slush fund used to finance shopping sprees in P

d wanted to humiliate her, to make her feel small and poor.

nymous file. She encrypted it and sent it to the secure tip line of

e first counter-move was

her phone again and look a

. You eliminate immediate threa

you walk through the n

ed a new t

DNA test. Please send me t