I lean back. It confirms it. Phoenix isn’t using the law. It’s using its own assets.
FROM: WHISPER
MSG: ALSO … STRATTON FINANCIAL IS HEMORRHAGING CASH. LIQUIDATING ASSETS. MOVING BILLIONS TO OFFSHORE SHELLS.
Stratton Financial. The money behind Vanguard.
TO: WHISPER
MSG: WHY?
FROM: WHISPER
MSG: UNKNOWN. LOOKS LIKE A PANIC MOVE. OR A WAR CHEST. THEY ARE CLEARING THE ACCOUNTS.
If they are clearing accounts, they are preparing for something. Or someone is running.
TO: WHISPER
MSG: KEEP WATCHING THE MONEY.
FROM: WHISPER
MSG: STAY DARK.
I kill the connection. Pull the battery.
Stratton Financial is liquidating. Why?
The water stops.
A few minutes later, the door opens. Steam billows out.
Cassie steps into the room.
She’s wearing a pair of gray sweatpants and a tight black T-shirt she bought at the thrift store. Her red hair is wet, slicked back from her face. Her skin is scrubbed pink.
She looks clean. Vulnerable.
And she’s looking at me.
“Your turn,” she says.
I stand. “Any hot water left?”
“Maybe. If you’re fast.”
I grab my bag. Walk past her. The scent of soap and damp skin hits me. It’s better than the woods. Better than ozone. It triggers a heavy, dragging pull in my gut that I can’t ignore.
“Halo,” she says.
I stop.
“The news?”
“Quiet,” I say. “Too quiet. Whisper confirmed it. No APB. They’re hunting us directly.”
“So we’re ghosts.”
