The atmosphere inside the Audi Q7 was thick with a tension that had nothing to do with the corporate maneuvers of The Capital or the high-stakes negotiations of the Kane Family. It was a much more primal, visceral struggle. Ace Kane could feel the waves of silent, mounting agony radiating from the passenger seat where Lora Hale sat. He glanced through the window, peering into the pitch-black void of the provincial wilderness. The highway was a stagnant river of steel and red brake lights, hemmed in by the jagged silhouettes of uncultivated hills and dense, nocturnal scrub.
"How about I walk with you out there?" Ace Kane suggested, his voice dropping into a supportive, protective register. He gestured toward the dark edge of the road, where the reach of the headlights failed. "It’s as dark
