Chapter 26
The heavy doors of the Sterling estate didn't just close behind Evan; they felt like the gates of a tomb locking into place. The air inside the mansion was cold, the silence so sharp it could draw blood.
Evan didn’t even have his coat off before he saw her. Eleanor was seated in her high-backed velvet wing chair in the grand foyer, her posture as rigid as a marble statue. On the mahogany side table sat a single glass of untouched sherry and a stack of morning editions that looked like they had been weaponized.
He didn't get a word out. He didn't even get to exhale.
The newspaper came flying through the air, a chaotic flutter of black and white, and hit him square in the face. The corner of the folded broadsheet caught the bridge of his nose, stinging with a sharpness that ma
