I had to find Derek myself.

I opened my laptop, bypassing the estate’s local network filter using a proxy I had set up weeks ago.

I searched the Syndicate’s known front companies, looking for any upcoming public events.

One name stood out: The Vanguard Gallery.

They were hosting a high-profile, private charity auction tomorrow night.

It was a public event, but highly exclusive, held in the grand ballroom of the Grand Plaza Hotel.

Derek loved those events; he used them to meet his wealthy buyers and launder money through art.

He would be there, hiding in plain sight among the city’s elite.

If I showed up, he would see me.

He would think I was cornered, ready to give him the ledger to save Sarah.

I could not tell Vincent about this plan.

Vincent would lock me in a cellar to keep me safe.

He saw me as a piece on his chessboard, a tool to destroy his rivals.

I had to go alone.

I looked at the closet in the corner of the room.

There was a dark evening gown I had bought months ago, before everything fell apart.