Chapter 26: The Foreclosure at Sterling Manor
Evelyn Sterling slammed the porcelain handset onto its cradle with enough force to splinter the polished rosewood console table beneath it. Across the sprawling double height foyer of Sterling Manor, cold morning light filtered through the tall arched windows, casting sharp gray lines across the imported Carrara marble floor tiles. The house had never felt so quiet, but the silence offered no peace, carrying only the muffled persistent buzz of unanswered telephone lines and the distant drone of diesel engines idling beyond the iron perimeter gates.
Evelyn snatched the receiver back up, punching twelve digits into the keypad with a trembling manicured finger, holding the heavy plastic tight against her ear while she paced across the Persian ru
