The call from the building manager came exactly twenty-two minutes after Ian and Regan found my empty hospital room.

I was in the velvet armchair of my new, undisclosed living room, a cup of Earl Grey warming my hands, a laptop open on the coffee table streaming an encrypted audio feed.

Faye’s team had placed a small recording device in the penthouse foyer with the court’s explicit permission, to protect what assets remained.

“Mr.

Prentice, you need to come back to the building immediately,” the manager was saying, his voice stripped of its usual polish.

Chapter 20 — Call the Police