“Then you’ll deliver in the general ward, Vivian, and you’ll pay every penny yourself.”

“And if I take these ledger copies to Chloe Park tomorrow morning?” I asked.

Eleanor patted the double strand of pearls at her throat, her purring voice perfectly steady.

“Chloe Park is a storefront lawyer who can’t protect you from an emergency custody filing.”

We got home at eleven twenty.

Julian didn’t say a word on the twelve-minute drive, keeping both hands at ten and two on the steering wheel, while the squeaky fan belt of my sedan seemed to answer from the garage bay where it sat.

In the master bedroom, the heavy drapes were pulled tight against the cold night air.