She shivered as the wind kicked up, pulling Annabelle closer to her as she adjusted her daughter’s wool hat. The sidewalks were crowded with people––office workers, the men in suits and heavy overcoats, the women in stylish hooded parkas. There were sightseers in bulky down jackets strolling around the Inner Harbor, where Christmas decorations blazed from every store window. Kate found herself searching faces again, looking for anyone who seemed suspicious, someone who might be watching her. The muscles in her face were tight, her whole body on full alert.

As soon as they entered the building, Annabelle skipped to the elevator bank. “Can I push the button?” she asked, hopping up and down.

“Of course,” Kate said.

On the twenty-fourth floor, the elevator doors opened to the reception area of Barton and Rothman, the financial planning and advising firm. Sylvia, who’d been with the firm for as long as Kate could remember, rose from her chair behind the reception desk to greet them.

“Dr. Michaels, Kate, Simon,” she said. “Gordon is waiting for you.”

“Thank you,” Harrison said.

Kate hung back a moment. “Sylvia, do you have an empty conference room or office where my daughter and our nanny might sit while we meet?”

“Certainly. I’ll settle them in. You know the way to Gordon’s office,” she said and led Hilda and Annabelle down the hall in the other direction.

Gordon stood at his office door. “Good morning. Come in,” he said, shaking Harrison’s hand, giving Simon a curt nod, and then reaching out to Kate. His hand felt puffy and moist as it wrapped over hers, but as she attempted to pull it away, his fingers closed more tightly around hers, and he leaned forward to try and give her a hug. She took a breath, pulling away from him, and seated herself in one of the three leather chairs in front of his desk.

“Would you like coffee or tea?” Gordon asked, not taking his eyes off Kate.

Harrison cleared his throat. “No, thank you. Let’s get this over with quickly.”

Gordon walked back to his desk, bowed slightly, and pulled at the bottom of his vest before sitting down. Simon had always said that Gordon was pompous, but Kate knew he also grudgingly respected his brilliance at financial management.

“It is a very sad task we have before us today,” Gordon began, and Kate sighed, waiting for him to get on with it. He always managed to sound like he’d fallen straight off the pages of Bleak House.

“As I’m sure you know, Harrison, your wife’s will states very clearly that half of her estate goes to your daughter, and a portion of that in trust for your granddaughter.”

Harrison nodded. “Yes, of course. I was here with Lily when she made that provision.”