He smelled of scotch and expensive wool, the scent of a man who believed he had won.

But his hands were shaking as he sorted through the papers on the desk.

“We need to make sure the offshore accounts are fully liquidated,” Grant said, his voice cracking slightly. “If the Feds freeze the Denver assets before we clear the border, we’ll be stranded.”

“The Feds are slow,” Vanessa said.

She stood near the desk, her posture perfect, her face illuminated by the soft glow of her phone screen.

“They are still trying to figure out how Hector’s money moved through your firm,” she continued.

“But they’ll find it,” Grant insisted. “Evelyn’s old team isn’t stupid.”

“They are stupid enough to think Evelyn is dead,” Vanessa said, a cold smile touching her lips.

I felt a chill run down my spine.

They believed I was dead, or at least out of the picture.

My disappearance had given them the confidence to move forward with their plan.

But they had underestimated the length of my shadow.