d glass canyons of Sterling City's financial district. People hurried along the sidewalks, heads

keys from the hook by the door of the suburban house, along with a pair of her mother's old jeans

lent, carpeted, and smelled faintly of a lemon-scented cleanin

d her key i

dn't

ng. The key wouldn't e

original lock. It was a new, digi

ged the locks o

The sheer, unmitigated gall of it. He wasn't j

t was to kick the

id ne

was a simple, mental interface. A series of empty squares. She focused on one square and pic

, red f

rain of the wooden handle against her palm, the cold heft of the steel head. Just like the glass of Springwater in the

he security camera was at the far end, by t

back, raised the

n a shower of plastic and wires. A deep g

ed out. Ms. Foster. She stopped dead, her eyes wide with shock as she took in the scene

Ms. Fost

her voice perfectly calm. She gestured to the broken keypad. "I

door a shove.

d Crystal's cloyingly sweet perfume. The apartment was a mess. Cl

ad turned her proper

he still-stunned realtor. "He'll be here in ten minutes to i

ything in this apartment that doesn't belong to me gone. Today. I don't ca

showings. I want you to call your list of cash investors. Tell them a highly motivated

eam of a massive, easy commission. She was already tapping furiously on her t

," Arlena said. "V

enaline began to fade, replaced by a cold, clear sense of purpose. Th

ion. The company Mr. Miller worked for. She scrolled through their portfoli

hollow-core doors. The large, vulnerable windows. In her last life, a mob o

new list in

eter reinforce

id steel,

tary-grade ba

ank vaul

ced against f

ic

und wate

Locksmith finished. Movers are on their

ied with a

work. Finding the lock changed. Finding all his and Crystal's cheap, tacky belongings piled

ng built. The war ch

ontrol, one violent,