n table. She picked up a box of matches

scented candle. The small fire illuminated a

dge of the wooden frame. Her chest rose and fel

pped to her knees and reached under the frame. Her fingers hooked around the

x was filled with old sweate

rd, pressing the fabric flat, and set it aside. She repeated

r fingers brushed against some

teeth were cut in a complex, jagged pattern. It was a hi

iler. There was nothing in this r

und echoed from outsi

e cold metal rested against her forearm. She moved to the w

through the

three-piece suit, a charcoal gray overcoat, and a bl

hat and bowed deep

ediately. Jacob Wright.

, slid the deadbolt ba

ng wallpaper and the cheap furniture. His ey

led out a heavy object wrapped in blac

bundle. She unw

ved with intricate vines. There was no keyhole. The top

nal breath," Jacob said. His voice was a lo

ial. She tried to turn it. The dial d

open it?"

ation. But there is a self-destruct mechanism i

ox. Her eyes locked onto h

ur upcoming twentieth

e asked. "Does this ha

upward, and his grip on the cane tigh

ll bleed," Ja

k back. A black sedan idled at the end of the dirt path.

d back to the table and set the

lickering light. The edges of the numbers were worn smooth

s, her mind already runnin