“Your moral outrage won’t pay their mortgages, and it won’t pay yours.”

She held the phone out again.

“Five seconds,” she said.

My own phone buzzed in my pocket.

It was a double pulse, the vibration sharp against my hip.

That was the signal from Assistant US Attorney Miller.

The wire in my purse was active, recording every word of this conversation.

I looked at the black screen of Victoria’s phone.

“Your lawyer is ready to draft the NDA?” I asked, playing for time.

“The papers are already drafted,” Victoria said.

“They are waiting for your digital signature.”

“Once you sign, five million dollars will be deposited into a trust in the Cayman Islands.”

“It will be under a shell corporation.”

“You will receive a monthly allowance of twenty thousand dollars, starting tomorrow.”

“But you leave Los Angeles.”

“You change your name, and you never speak to the press.”

Adelaide watched me, her fingers twitching near her pearl necklace.

“It’s a good deal, Natalie,” Adelaide said.

“It’s more than you would get if the estate goes bankrupt.”

I took a slow breath, letting the dry wind cool my face.