“They are asking if we intend to renew our contract in light of these disclosures.”

I reached out and touched the cold wood of the desk to steady myself.

“We need a formal statement by tomorrow morning, Malcolm,” Helen said.

“Otherwise, the board will have to suspend our operations with Northline pending an internal review.”

The line went dead with a soft beep.

The silence in the office was suffocating, save for the sound of the wind rattling the heavy glass windows.

Calvin walked over to the window, looking out at the snow falling over the city.

“They’re trying to choke us out before we even get to court,” Calvin said.

“We have to find Vance,” I said, standing up.

“We have to stop him from giving them anything else.”

“It might already be too late for that,” Sayer said.

He pointed to his computer monitor, which had just lit up with a new email notification.

The sender was an untraceable address, and the subject line read: *The True Successor of Northline.*

I leaned over the desk to read the screen as Sayer clicked the message.