I hired Mara because everyone in the city called her a thief—and because I needed my family to believe I was desperate enough to trust anyone.

"The math is very simple, Doctor," Mara said, stepping out from behind the desk and raising her left wrist to show him the blinking black band.

Sterling’s eyes narrowed. "What is that? A toy?"

"It’s a biometric transmitter," Mara said, her voice steady and completely devoid of fear. "It’s currently broadcasting my vitals to a secure server in Geneva. At this exact moment, the complete transaction ledger of Aegis Labs, including the names of your financial backers, the offshore account routing numbers, and the GPS coordinates of your production facilities, is locked in an encrypted file."

Sterling’s smile vanished. "You're bluffing."

"Try me," Mara said, taking a step toward the armed men. "If my heart rate drops below forty beats per minute, or if the connection is severed for more than ten seconds, the decryption key is released. Your backers will be exposed before the police even finish cleaning up our bodies. Do you think the syndicate will let you live once they realize you let their entire multi-billion-dollar empire get exposed over a forty-million-dollar debt?"

Sterling stared at her, his face turning an ash-gray color. He looked at the armed men, who stood frozen, their weapons suddenly feeling very heavy in their hands.