Nathan froze, his breath catching in his throat.

“Apex,” he said, the word barely a whisper.

“That’s my main competitor in the quantum storage market.”

“They’ve trying to buy my patents for three years.”

The saw outside stopped suddenly, and a heavy silence fell over the panic room.

“Nathan!” Vanessa’s voice called out, sharp and dripping with false sweetness.

“Be reasonable, darling.”

“The blizzard is getting worse, and the main power is gone.”

“If you don’t open this door, the heating system won’t reset, and those girls will freeze.”

“Just hand over the primary source code, and we will get the generators back online.”

Nathan didn’t look toward the door.

He kept his eyes locked on the handwritten pages in his hand.

“She killed her,” Nathan whispered, his knuckles turning white as he gripped the leather binder.

“Vanessa poisoned my wife to get to this house.”

“To get to me.”

I put my hand on his shoulder, trying to keep him focused.

“There is more, Nathan,” I said, pointing to the bottom of the page.

*She isn’t working alone,* Claire had written in a frantic, hurried hand.