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 The notification said $9,860 had been withdrawn from my reserve fund.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

The people closest to the investigation were no longer divided into simple categories of innocent and guilty. Everyone seemed to be carrying part of the truth, and no one carried all of it.

Audrey closed her eyes.

She must have drifted for several minutes because the next sound she heard seemed to come from far away.

A soft vibration.

She opened her eyes.

The room was dark except for the monitor lights.

The vibration came again.

Not from the hospital equipment.

From the drawer beside the bed.

Audrey frowned.

Her personal phone had been taken as evidence. Her secure phone was with Diana.

She reached for the drawer and pulled it open.

Inside lay a small black phone she had never seen before.

The screen glowed with a single incoming message.

NO CALLER ID.

Audrey picked it up.

The message contained a photograph.

It showed Julian standing beside a car in the hospital parking garage.

The timestamp was less than one minute old.

He was not in custody.

Beside him stood Martin Keene.

A second message appeared.

THEY KNOW ABOUT OWEN’S VIDEO.

Then a third.

DO NOT LET DIANA RETURN TO THE ROOM.

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