I pressed the button and held the receiver to my ear.

“Vivian,” Grant said.

His voice was thin and wet.

“Where are you?” I asked.

“They’re at the office, Vivian, they’re taking the hard drives,” he stammered.

“I know,” I said.

“You have to tell them we signed those papers together,” he whispered.

“I didn’t sign anything, Grant.”

“If you don’t back me up, they’re going to freeze everything, the whole project is gone.”

“The project is mine,” I said.

“Vivian, please, I made a mistake with Lila, but this is our life’s work.”

“It was my mother’s name,” I said.

I ended the call.

The screen went black.

An hour later, Diane Cho arrived at the Meridian lobby.

She carried a thick leather briefcase.

We sat at a small round table near the window.

“It is over for him,” Diane said.

She opened her briefcase and pulled out a stack of legal papers.

“Caleb Rhodes just called me,” she added.

“He wants to meet immediately.”

We met Caleb in the private dining room of the hotel.

He wore a gray suit and a silver watch.