el brilliance. The papers on the nightstand hadn't

rica could answer. Karie Solomon, the housekeeper,

s, Madam. Mrs. Antonin

gnature. Her expression didn't change, but her lip curled slightly. She se

t Erica knew better. She had swiped a sample two years ago and run it through the mass spectrometer in her

lly a threat. But she wasn't stupid. Every morning, an hour before Karie arrived, Erica took a binding agent she had s

m down to where the neutralizer was waiting. It was a dangerous game, but it was the

h messy hair and a scraped knee, holding out a wildflower to a girl who was crying

d's pr

different today. A metallic tang that hadn't been there before. Had they change

cean four years ago, the same night

ed. "The car is ready. The family e

Erica asked, though

y auction today. He is supporting her." Karie's ton

se," Eri

s that felt like armor. It was severe, mourning att

d. Erica slid into the back seat. The privacy

, unlike anything she had felt before. Erica frowned. Her calculations for the neutralizer were precise. Unless

laptop. She didn't open Netflix or Instagram. She booted i

reen filled with lines of code, complex

me, D

with activity. A message blinked

The board is asking if the gho

yped ba

tion. She had built this for Dillard's grandfather originally. Now, it was going to change the world. And Dilla

ping the laptop onto the seat. Sweat prickled her hairlin

ates of the Bentley estate. The gray stone mansion l

ep into her bag. She checked her refle

er-in-law, Antonina, standing at the top of the stone