The man gasped, blinded by the sudden beam.

I scrambled backward up the concrete steps, my hands scraping against the rough wall.

The phone in my pocket continued to vibrate violently against my thigh.

I reached in and pulled it out, my fingers trembling.

The screen showed an unknown number.

I pressed the accept button and held the phone to my ear as I kept climbing.

“Audrey?” a voice sobbed into the receiver.

It was Chloe.

Her voice was high-pitched, thick with tears, and completely terrified.

“Chloe?” I gasped, reaching the door to the office floor again. “Where are you?”

“You have to help me,” Chloe cried, the sound of wind whipping through the microphone. “She’s going to kill me, Audrey.”

“Who? Beatrice?” I asked, looking back down the stairs.

I could hear the sounds of a struggle below—the heavy thud of bodies hitting concrete and Liam shouting.

“She knows I found the ledger,” Chloe sobbed. “She’s hunting me down. I’m at the old charity hall.”

The line crackled, the signal dropping to a single bar.

“The burned one,” Chloe whispered, her voice fading. “Please, Audrey. She’s coming.”