CHAPTER 157

The afternoon sky had turned a dull gray, clouds heavy with the promise of rain, as Jessica made her way through the busy streets of the city. Her thoughts were a whirlwind of plans and possibilities, each one more desperate than the last. She had to find Paul Mitchell, and she had to make him see that his best chance of survival was to turn against her father.

As she navigated through the downtown traffic, her phone buzzed with a text from Clara: Keep your head down. We’re running surveillance on Lane’s movements, but he’s getting paranoid. Stay alert.

Jessica's pulse quickened. Her father's paranoia meant he was sensing a shift, feeling the walls close in around him. She needed to move quickly, before he locked down his operations entirely. She pulled into the parking lot of a nondescript office building, her eyes sweeping the area for any sign of her father’s men. Satisfied that she wasn’t being followed, she took a deep breath and stepped out of the car.

The building was a relic f