“There you are. I swear, you need to stay spiraled in, you luddite. We still on for dinner?”
“Listen. I really need to talk to you. Can you and Keala come over now?”
“Sure thing, pachika.” Tyla’s voice mirrored instant concern. “You okay?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Oh, hon. Look, we’ll be right over. See you in five.”
Nicholle terminated the call just as the building’s retinal scan confirmed her identity and the doors to the tube opened. Nicholle stepped into her great room, heels clacking on the oak flooring. Strode past the baby grand piano and round the corner to her bedroom suite. She threw her purse on the chair to the right of the door. The walls were painted crimson, accented by an open-scroll ceiling medallion. The bed stood on a dais against the far wall, draped in gauzy mesh from a c
