The Vanderbilt estate looked unchanged when Julian's driver stopped a block away. Its stone front, clipped hedges, and dark windows had framed most of my life. Now I had to enter my own home without letting its security system see me.
Martha controlled the main security system, so I stayed behind the hedges and went to the service entrance. My father had installed a backup biometric scanner there and shown only me. I pressed my thumb to the glass. After a long second, the light turned green and the lock opened.
I crossed the empty house without turning on a light and went upstairs to Martha's private study, the one room she had always declared off-limits. Her Chanel No. 5 still hung in the closed air.
A painting of a ship covered the safe. Martha had used her birthday as the code. The s
