The beam of light swung directly onto my face, blinding me.

I shielded my eyes with my forearm, coughing on the damp air.

“Get up, Mrs. Blackwell,” Elias said.

He walked down the slope with easy, sure-footed steps.

He held a semi-automatic handgun pointed straight at my chest.

Behind him, two other men in dark tactical gear slid down the mud, their weapons raised.

“What are you doing?” I asked, pushing myself up against the log.

“Looking for the ledger,” Elias said.

His voice was entirely devoid of the polite deference he usually showed me at the estate.

“I don’t have it,” I said, showing him my empty hands. “The folder was empty.”

Elias frowned, his gaze shifting to the muddy ground around me.

“Then your father hid it somewhere else in this house,” he said.

“Why do you care about my father’s debts?” I asked, my knees shaking as I stood.

“My employers want the ledger, Lena,” Elias said. “The Moretti family wants to know exactly who Roman Blackwell has in his pocket.”

“You work for the Morettis,” I said, the realization settling like ice in my stomach.