Chapter 1

In the dead of a heat wave, my mother accidentally locked Charles Gilbert's secretary inside a car.

By the time I got back from checking in at the front desk, found my mother wandering off in one of her spells, and rushed us both back to the parking lot, Hildegarde Pruitt had already collapsed from heatstroke.

I brought a bag of get-well gifts to the hospital room to apologize. Charles didn't even look up.

"It's fine. Your mother's ill, she didn't mean it. Don't take it to heart."

Hildegarde, wrapped in a hospital gown, pale in the face, smiled along with him.

"That's right, Ethel Fox. It's all my own fault for falling asleep and not paying attention. It has nothing to do with your mother."

I let out a breath, thinking the whole thing was behind us.

Until a week later, when Charles called.

He said he'd pulled some strings and gotten an appointment with a top medical specialist from overseas, and told me to bring my mother over right away.

But the Maybach tore down the road and didn't stop at any hospital. It pulled up at the entrance of a cold-storage warehouse out past the edge of town.

He shrugged off his suit jacket and draped it over one arm.

Then he pointed at a table with a spinning wheel on it that had appeared inside the warehouse at some point.

"The doctor's stuck in traffic. He won't be here for at least another forty minutes."

"We've got time to kill, so we might as well play a game to pass it."

The wheel was divided into four sections, each marked with one of our four names.

"Whoever the needle lands on goes and waits in the freezer next door."

"First round is five minutes. Every time you lose after that, add another five."

1

The iron door of the freezer gave off a cold sheen. You could feel the chill rolling off it even standing at the entrance.

Charles laid out the rules like they were nothing, then let out a scornful little laugh.

"Place your bets, accept your losses. Just for fun."

My face changed in an instant, and I pushed my mother behind me.

"No. My mother has an underlying condition, her lungs are bad, she can't handle the cold. If you all want to play, play. My mother and I aren't part of this."

Hildegarde took a step forward and coaxed me in that gentle voice of hers.

"Ethel, it's just a little game. The freezer isn't that cold. It's only a few minutes, nothing's going to happen."

"I said no. She's a sick woman. You'd gamble with a sick woman's body?"

The smile dropped off Charles's face in an instant.

"Ethel, the rules are the same for everyone. If I lose, I go in too."

He leaned against the edge of the table and tapped the wheel with a fingertip.

"What, everyone else can play, but your mother's too precious? It's rare I have time to spare. Don't be a killjoy."

"This isn't about precious or not—"

He cut me off, his tone level.

"If you won't play, then I can't very well push the specialist to come."

"You know how busy a medical specialist is. Miss him today, and who knows when you'll get another appointment."

My whole body went rigid.

Over the past six months my mother's memory had been slipping faster and faster. Sometimes she didn't even recognize me.

This specialist was the only hope I had right now.

I didn't have a choice.

I clenched my palms, my nails digging in until it hurt, and asked carefully, "Then let my mother sit out. Change her name to mine. If I lose, I take her punishment. Would that work?"

Charles didn't even lift his head. His voice was cold.

"You alone taking fifty percent of the odds? Then how is it a game? Word gets out, and people who don't know better will think Charles Gilbert can't take a loss."

The standoff dragged on. Then he laughed softly.

"Looks like your mother's illness isn't so urgent after all. In that case—"

Before he could finish, my mother tugged at the hem of my clothes, dazed, and leaned close to whisper in my ear.

"When are we going home? My daughter will worry if she can't find me."

My throat tightened. I smoothed her hair and turned back to Charles.

"Fine. You keep your word. We play these rounds, and the specialist will definitely come?"

"When have I ever lied to you?"

He smiled and reached out to spin the wheel.

"Let's begin."