They had spent the whole summer acting careful. My mother clipped coupons in front of me and sighed over grocery prices. My father shook his head when I suggested one quiet weekend away together, like I had asked him to buy a second house instead of share a motel room and a diner breakfast. “This summer we’re staying in,” Mom told me. “It’s just too much.” I believed her because believing them had become a reflex, even after years of little disappointments. They knew I kept one reserve account for emergencies, and they knew my health was the reason I guarded it like oxygen. At 3:08 in the morning, my phone buzzed hard enough to wake me. The notification said $9,860 had been withdrawn from my reserve fund. I sat up so fast the room tilted, opened the banking app, and watched my own life turn into someone else’s vacation. There were first-class flights to Mykonos. There was a luxury suite, a private driver, designer shops, spa treatments, and restaurant holds that cost more than my rent. Every charge use – Page 10

Diana nodded.

“We moved the schedule forward after your message this afternoon.”

“What message?”

“The one you sent from your office account. The spreadsheet showing transfers from Sterling Ridge to Northstar Restoration.”

Audrey opened her eyes.

“I didn’t send anything today.”

Diana’s expression changed.

“What?”

“I left work at noon. I didn’t send you a spreadsheet.”

The ambulance seemed suddenly quieter despite the siren.

Diana reached into her pocket and removed her phone.

“The file came through your authenticated channel at three forty-two.”

“I was at the estate by three.”

“Could Julian access your work account?”

“No.”

“Your home computer?”

“It doesn’t connect to the secure network.”

Diana looked down at her screen, thinking.

“Could someone at your office have sent it under your credentials?”

“Only if they had my security key.”

“Where is it?”

Audrey’s hand moved instinctively toward her purse.

The purse was not there.

She remembered carrying it into the restroom. She remembered removing the emergency phone.

After that, nothing.

“My bag.”