iately released Bria

sted off her ruined sequin dress, completel

steps heavy and deliberate. She walked straight to the second

Clark was sitting behind a massive mahogany de

nted her hands on the polished wood, an

nd the faint scratch on her neck. A rare, genuin

d black titanium credit card, and sli

d it down her cleavage. She opened

ger in the guest room and finally powered the cracked-screen device back on wh

it out. It was a pict

shrank to pinpricks. All the blood dr

rusted pipe with thick, coarse rope. Her face was a mass of purple br

the money in 30 minutes, or you ca

in gentle care, were the only source of warmth the original Briana had ever known in that broken home. That profound, inherited sense of familial love seared into Briana's soul like

. He leaned forward, his voice d

ssman. He wouldn't risk his men for a slum dispute. I

forced her facial muscles into a stiff, unnatural smile.

her white knuckles gripping the ph

up," Briana blurted

leg, dragging her throbbing ankle as she limped frantica

clenched tight. He hit the intercom button

in dress, her breath coming in ragged gasps. She pulled

kit, and grabbed a pair of heavy medical scissors and

pe, and slid down into the dark bushes below, landing heavily. A sickening jolt of pain sho

low stone wall at the back of the estate, an

study. "She jumped the wall, sir. GPS s

had just secured his protection, and now

w it in the trash. He grabbed his trench co

xactly what made this calc