“She’s pregnant. She overreacts sometimes. Just give me a minute to talk to her.”
Audrey found her voice.
“I am not fine!”
Silence followed.
Then the paramedic spoke again, this time with a harder edge.
“Sir, move away from the door.”
A metal bar forced its way between the frame and the lock.
The wood cracked.
The door swung inward.
Bright hallway light flooded the room.
Two paramedics entered first, followed by a woman carrying a medical bag. Audrey barely registered their faces. She noticed their blue gloves, the stretcher behind them, and the expression of alarm on Julian’s face.
He stood several feet away in his tuxedo, his bow tie still perfectly straight.
For one strange second, they looked at each other without speaking.
Audrey saw something change in him.
Not compassion.
Calculation.
His gaze moved from her to the emergency phone in her hand.
Then past the paramedics to the two state investigators stepping into the corridor.
Diana Cruz entered last.
She wore a dark suit beneath a lightweight tactical vest, her hair pulled into a low knot. She did not look toward the ballroom. She looked directly at Julian.
His face lost its color.
“What is this?” he asked.
Diana stopped beside the broken door.
“Mr. Sterling, remain where you are.”
