Chapter 2

There was no signal jammer in the cellar. Vivian still needed my phone to complete the transfer verification.

Marcus held me down against the long table. Another guard opened the protective case around the audit drive. Vivian swapped the settlement for three documents: authorization to unlock the audit drive, a confession of theft, and a statement that I was leaving Grey Harbor of my own free will.

"Sign, and I promise the gun and the ledger never reach the police," she said.

"You don't want damages. You want me to take the fall for $2.4 million."

The smile thinned on her face. "So you're harder to handle than Luca said."

I asked to call Luca one more time. Vivian agreed at once, deliberately put him on speaker, and began to cry as she claimed I had entered armed, tried to force her to hand over Black Psalm, and brought unidentified people to threaten her staff.

It was loud on the other end. The guests were raising their glasses for the engagement party.

"Luca, it's me." I read out the serial number on the founder's ring, then the audit reference number. "Have Nora verify it, or have the club scan the ring. You only have to do one of them."

He was silent for a few seconds.

I had watched him grow up. He knew my voice.

"Sienna, this is my engagement night." He lowered his voice. "I already told you. Don't cause trouble tonight."

"I'm locked in the cellar at Black Psalm."

"Marcus," he said to his head of security. "Keep her locked up for now. Don't let her ruin the party. We'll talk when I'm finished."

The call ended.

Vivian lowered the phone slowly. "You heard him. The heir apparent has authorized it."

"He told you to detain me. He didn't tell you to hurt me."

"When you get out, you can go argue with him about the wording yourself."

She had barely finished when the butt of Marcus's gun slammed into my side. I heard a dull thud, and my breath cut out. When they dragged my right hand into the gap in the wine cabinet door, I finally understood. They had already worked out where to injure me so the pain would force me to surrender the key without killing me on the spot.

Vivian leaned down. "Can you sign now?"

I stopped explaining who I was.

She changed the amount from $500,000 to $1.2 million, payable to Northshore Stage Equipment. If the money didn't arrive before midnight, she would send the gun, the ledger, and edited footage to the press and the police.

"I'll pay," I said. "The corporate account has two-factor verification. Give me my phone."

She had Marcus pin my right hand down while she watched the screen. I logged into the company's preconfigured flagged-transfer channel and entered Black Psalm Audit Settlement in the memo field. The channel would not actually release the funds. Instead, it would generate a payment confirmation while alerting our off-site compliance center, freezing the payment route, and requesting control of the door system.

When the verification call connected, I dialed Nora.

"I want the $1.2 million bottle." I pushed through the pain in my side and enunciated every word.

Nora heard my breathing and paused for a second. "The wine has already left the cellar. All three cars are on the road."

Medical, security, and law enforcement were all mobilized at once.

Vivian snatched the phone back. The payment confirmation popped up, and she finally let out a breath. She called for an ink pad. She wanted my fingerprint on the statement about leaving the city.

She grabbed my injured right hand and forced it down.

The second my fingertip almost touched the ink, the music upstairs cut out.

The cellar lights went dark, and the magnetic fire-door locks clicked off one after another. In the darkness, the sealed iron door gave a single click and sprang outward.