It was simply to be prepared for the moment his own nature brought him to my door, to have the decoy in place and the camera running, so that when he did the thing he was always going to do, it would be evidence rather than merely damage.

He took the bait, yes.

But the bait was only his own certainty that I was too small to be a threat.

He was never lured anywhere he did not, in his arrogance, already want to go.

I only made sure that this time, for once, someone was watching.

Chapter 14 — The Press Conference

At eight o’clock on Monday morning, the annual press conference for Vance Legacy Philanthropies was held in the grand ballroom of the St.

Regis Hotel in downtown Denver.