You can only watch her put it on and realize, too late, that you handed her the last piece of armor she needed.

Chapter 14 — Sinclaire

On the third day I sat in the mahogany-paneled office of my lead corporate attorney, a precise and unshakeable woman named Sinclaire, who looked at my steel band with something between alarm and admiration and then, being a professional, got to work.

“The dead man’s switch engaged three nights ago,” she said, sliding a folder across the desk.

“Kestrel Worldwide is accruing intellectual-property penalties by the hour under the licensing terms Marius himself signed.

Their servers are failing.