She snatched the phone off the desk, but she was too late to hide the screen from me.

I memorized the phrasing of the text.

*The Whitaker transition.*

“You didn’t meet Carter at a conference in New York,” I said.

Sloane didn’t answer.

She put her phone in her pocket and adjusted her coat.

“You should leave before the police arrive, Evelyn,” she said.

“For the sake of your baby.”

I took a step backward, my mind spinning.

I looked at the silver tablet still sitting on the desk.

Sloane was reaching for her coat on the coat rack behind the door.

Her back was turned for a fraction of a second.

I lunged across the desk and grabbed the tablet.

I shoved it into the deep pocket of my heavy winter coat.

Sloane turned around, her eyes scanning the desk.

She noticed the empty space where the tablet had been.

Her eyes narrowed as she looked at me.

“Give it back,” she said.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said, backing toward the door.

“You have five seconds before security gets to this floor,” Sloane said.