Chapter 21 - A Midnight Knock on the Penthouse Door Changes Everything
Midnight ticked quietly across the digital clock in the penthouse master suite while the Manhattan skyline glittered below.
Piper lay awake in her bed, staring out at the starless night sky through the expansive floor-to-ceiling glass windows.
Her legs felt strong, rested, and completely free of the phantom pain that had haunted her for eleven long months.
Suddenly, a soft, deliberate chime echoed from the private elevator foyer outside her bedroom suite doors.
Piper sat up instantly, her instincts tightening as she reached for her forearm crutches leaning beside the bed frame.
The private elevator shouldn't have been operating at midnight without security override clearance from her mother’s terminal.
She stepped out onto the cool hardwood floor, walking with steady, balanced strides toward the brightly lit hallway.
The brushed-steel doors of the private elevator stood wide open, revealing an empty, silent passenger compartment.
Resting on the floor inside the elevator cab was a plain, unmarked manila envelope tied with a thick red ribbon.
Piper approached cautiously, kneeling down to pick up the package without disturbing the surrounding crime scene perimeter.
She untied the red ribbon and slid a single sheet of heavy cardstock paper out of the manila enclosure.
Printed across the page in bold, jagged capital letters was a warning that made her blood run instantly cold:
“Veyron was only the testing ground. The real network is already watching your next move.”
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Before Piper could call for security, the elevator doors suddenly slammed shut with a sharp, echoing mechanical snap.
Downstairs, the lobby security alarms began to wail loudly into the silent Manhattan night.
