He took two steps forward, his expensive leather shoes clicking on the dusty floor.

“Walk away?” he said. “Claire, I own the path I am walking on.”

Liam tried to lift his head, his breathing heavy and wet.

“Don’t tell him anything, Claire,” Liam muttered.

The man holding him tightened his grip, twisting Liam’s zip-tied wrists upward.

Liam winced, his shoulders tensing, but he didn’t cry out.

“Let him go,” I said, keeping my voice low and flat. “He has nothing to do with Apex.”

“He helped you run,” Ethan said, his eyes narrowing slightly. “That makes him a liability.”

He reached into his tailored coat pocket and pulled out a silver signet ring, slipping it onto his finger.

It was the same ring that had left a crescent-shaped scar near my collarbone.

“You really thought a few spreadsheets would ruin me?” Ethan asked.

“Those spreadsheets show twenty million dollars in bribes to the state transit board,” I said.

I wanted him to say the names.

I needed the microphone in my pocket to catch every syllable.

“Of course they do,” Ethan said, shrugging his shoulders. “That is how projects get approved.”