ment was ungentle, efficient. He reached for the landline

wed at the collar of her uniform, the fabric restricting her bre

r hovered over

blindly reaching out. Her fing

s system. The internal static vanished completely. He looked down at her. Her eyes were

hung up

hunger she couldn't control. She pressed her lip

ogical key. He had spent his life feeling nothing, viewing the world through a sheet of glass. This was not a shatt

r, pinning her wri

dow panes. Inside, the only sounds were r

ll them apart. She clung to the man above her, her nails digging into his shoulders. S

. For the first time in six months,

iced through the

hythm that matched her heart. Memories of the night

still asleep. His arm was draped hea

was, he could blackmail her. He could sell the story to t

r by millimeter, lifted

the plush carpet. Her uniform lay in t

white shirts hung there. She grabbed one and pulled

er sat next to a gold watch. She reac

hifted in

lling her hand back. N

cash. Just a tube of lipstick that

haking hands, she scribbled: I'm sorry. She added a string

e on the pillow

she crept out

eeped. A man in a suit walked in, ca

e woman wearing his boss's shirt,

a finger to he

m, out the door, a

was a wreck. Everet was sitting up,

read the apology. He cru

lly neutral. "The woman who just ra

ical smile touched his lips. The look of a scientis

ight of the name. "Find out why she was drugg