“Well, well,” she whispered.

Then: “Damn rats.”

I opened my eyes a fraction. A grey field mouse had scurried over my shoe and out into the center of the floor, caught in her beam. Vanessa recoiled, kicking at the air, cursing, and marched back up the stairs, slamming and locking the oak door behind her.

I let out the breath I’d been holding for an eternity. I waited another hour in the freezing dark, then used my credit card to slip the simple lock from the inside.

I crept back to my room, uploaded the photos to my encrypted state server, and texted my lead investigator, Miller, at three in the morning.

Run Vanguard Holdings. Freeze everything attached to it. Get me a judge.