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 The notification said $9,860 had been withdrawn from my reserve fund.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 20

“You want the truth?”

“Yes.”

“Because my mother liked you.”

Audrey almost laughed.

“Your mother despised me.”

“No. She underestimated you. That’s different.”

Seraphina leaned forward.

“She mocked your salary, your clothes, and your job because she mocks anything she can’t control. But she watched you. She asked Julian what you were working on. She wanted to know who your supervisors were. She told me you were dangerous before I understood why.”

Audrey felt the room narrow around her.

“When?”

“Two years ago.”

Two years.

That was before Audrey had been assigned to the Sterling Ridge investigation.

“At the time, I thought she meant you were dangerous to Julian. That you might convince him to leave the family business.”

“But that wasn’t what she meant.”

“I don’t think so.”

Audrey remembered Beatrice’s questions.

Are you still working for the state?

Do you ever audit private companies?

Does your office investigate charities?