I nodded, wrapping my scarf around my neck.

I walked out of the law office and down the quiet hallway to the elevators.

The metal doors slid open, and I stepped inside, the descent to the lobby feeling like a plunge into the unknown.

Outside, the air was freezing, the wind whipping snow across the sidewalk.

I unlocked my truck and climbed inside, the engine roaring to life with a heavy rumble.

I put the truck in gear and pulled out into the slick, darkened streets of Denver, heading toward the industrial district.

As I drove, my phone buzzed in the cup holder, the screen lighting up with an incoming call from an unknown Phoenix number.

“Avery?”

The voice was thin, filtered through static, but immediately recognizable.

It was my mother.

“What do you want, Catherine?” I asked, keeping my eyes on the slick asphalt of I-25.

“I heard about your uncle,” she said.

“We need to talk about how we handle the estate before your father does something foolish.”

“There is no ‘we,'” I said.

“Elliot left the company to me.”