"I found it."
Mrs. Thorne’s voice trembled over the phone line, tinny and terrified. "It was exactly where you said. Under the false bottom. A manila envelope marked 'Paternity'."
"Don't open it," I ordered, leaning against the cold wall of the hospital waiting room. "Bring it to me. Aethelgard General. Lobby 2."
"Vespera, the police are outside my house. Elara has private security everywhere. If I leave..."
"If you stay, you go to prison for fraud when I release the wire transfer logs implicating you in the Chronos payment," I said, my voice devoid of mercy. "You have twenty minutes, Mother. Take the service tunnel. Use the gardener's van. I don't care how you get here. Just get here."
I hung up.
I looked at my reflection in the vending machine glass. Mud caked my hair. Dried blood—
