Red lights stopped me at every block on the way to Sterling Tower. Seraphina's accusation kept returning: *You punished her for loving you.*
I tightened my hands on the wheel and called her a cornered liar. The words sounded weaker each time.
My assistant's message remained on the dashboard screen. *That urgent package from Chloe Vance arrived.*
A cardboard box waited in the center of my mahogany desk. My assistant had left the office and closed the door.
I tore through the packing tape. Inside the tissue paper lay a black USB stick and a folded set of medical records.
Only those two items occupied the box. Chloe had sent no letter and offered no explanation.
The letterhead read Blackwood Sanatorium. I skimmed the clinical notes until the first line caught.
*Patient: Chloe Vance.*
