Chloe looked toward the glass doors of the cafe.

Outside, the gray Denver sky seemed to press down against the asphalt.

A snowplow rumbled by in the distance, its yellow light flashing against the dirty snowbanks.

“Lucas and I are just working on a project,” she said, her eyes darting back to me. “It’s business.”

“Is it Melanie Harper’s business?” I asked.

The name hung between us like a physical weight.

Chloe’s chest rose and fell in a quick, shallow breath.

She reached for her paper coffee cup, but her fingers hovered over it without touching the cardboard.

“Who is that?” she whispered.

“You know exactly who she is, Chloe,” I said. “Or at least, you know the name Lucas told you to use.”

I tapped the screen of my phone, waking it up.

I opened the folder of PDFs I had transferred from the data drive.

I slid the phone across the table until it tapped against her knuckles.

“Read the first page,” I said.

Chloe looked down at the screen.

The bright white light of the display reflected in her wide eyes.