ater that had cost more than the annual budget of most small towns. Alice arrived at dusk, her car winding through

acket cut severe and sharp, sunglasses that hid her eyes even in the fading light. The look

eally an excuse to gather potential investors in a setting where regulations felt distant and discretion w

hout the burden of returned attention. She recognized most of them-hedge fund managers, tech billionaires, the occasional celebrity seeking legitimacy through proximi

something more casual, more approachable. The performance of a man at ease with his success. She watched him gesture, laugh,

Her dress was new-Alice recognized the designer, a competitor of middling talent-and her makeup was heavier

re st

idn't startle-she'd trained herself out of startle responses-but she felt her pulse ac

been born on this deck, in this world, rather than cons

ollowing,

bartender, pointed to her g

o knew her preferences better than she knew them herself. Which he did. He'd selected her trainers, her thera

ssary. The gown was provocative. This-" he gestured at the

r placed before her, though she didn't intend to drink it. "Reckle

nvestigation. Inve

tes survived? That she's been rebuilt, retrained, returned for vengeance?" She leaned closer, close enough to smell his cologne-something clean, expensive, delibera

ise toward her face, stop just short of contact. The gesture was intimate,

e for it," he said. "The

from his hand, didn't acknowledge it. "You taught me that. The mask isn

k, set it down with precision. "I said that to save

ng's murmur. Glass shattering. A woman's cry, pitched h

e tu

sy server's mistake, a minor embarrassment that should have been manageable. But Krystle's face was wrong, her eyes too wide, her breathi

now she's here.

to perform normalcy for the investors watching with

to the register of genuine panic. "You didn't see her. You did

oved her

knew exactly how she would appear-half-lit, mysterious, the scar at her jawline visible only as s

deck, Kry

ed Krystle's composure shatter completely. The other woman stumbled backward, her heel catching on the

ke too low to hear, but Alice could read his lips-get out, now, you'r

before collapsing into passive resistance, her eyes still fix

that preceded significant conversation

murmured. "Th

"She knows something. Not what-she couldn't know that

o investigate you. To fin

glass down with precision. "Let them both cha

e cold approval she'd seen in the training facility, in the h

his," he said. "Th

, smoothing her jacket. "You taught me that

r wh

hat would take her back to Manhattan, toward the next phase of a plan that

carry: "Mr. Jefferson. Connor Galloway. I believe

while gathering intelligence for her use. It was their arrangement. Their collaboration. The rea

he Hamptons. Security has been increased. And-" she paused, consulting her phone "-there's a req

tes passing in anonymous splendor. "Respond that I'm acc

he mee

er jawline, felt its texture through her