With a shaking hand, Harper picked up the flash drive and walked toward her laptop.

The penthouse was entirely too quiet. Usually, she found the silence of the glass-walled sanctuary comforting, a barrier between her and the chaotic streets of the city below. But today, the silence felt expectant.

The private elevator chimed, a soft, melodic sound that usually signaled the end of Harper’s isolation. Today, it sounded like a death knell.

Harper stood in the grand foyer of the penthouse, her hand tightly gripping the handle of her suitcase. She watched the brass doors slide open, expecting to

The rain had finally stopped, but the damp chill of the city clung to the windowpane of Harper’s mid-tier hotel room. It was a far cry from the sprawling, glass-walled penthouse she had called home for the past few weeks. There were no panoramic views of the skyline, no heated marble floors, and no