Chapter 37.
The silence of the penthouse had been a cocoon, but the world outside was a cacophony of heat and reality. By midday, the high-desert sun was a relentless white disc, turning the asphalt of the private airfield into a shimmering mirror. Harper felt the change in her body the moment she stepped out of the air-conditioned lobby. It was as if the gravity of the earth had doubled, pulling at her joints, making her breath catch in a chest that felt increasingly like it was lined with iron. She leaned heavily on Kane's arm, her fingers curling into the sleeve of his jacket. "You don't have to do this, Brooks," Kane murmured, his eyes scanning her face, looking for the tell-tale pallor he'd come to recognize. "We can find a beach. We can just drive until the road runs out." Harper looked u
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