MADELINE
I picked my phone up from the floor where I had thrown it earlier and held the power button until the screen came back to life. The glow felt too bright for the gray light leaking in through the curtains, like it was accusing me of being awake when I should not have been. My shoulder protested as I shifted, a deep, pulsing ache that had settled into the muscle and made itself comfortable there.
I scrolled through my contacts without really seeing the names. My thumb slowed when I reached Wilhelm. I hesitated, not because I doubted what I was about to do, but because I knew exactly how this would go. Then I pressed call before I could talk myself out of it.
It rang. Once. Twice. Three times.
"Madeline." His voice was thick, rough with sleep and irritation. "Do you know what time it is?"
"I need you at the Donlon estate," I said. I did not soften it. I did not explain. I had learned a long time ago that giving Wilhelm too much too early only gave him room to push back.
