Chapter 3

At the word "four hundred grand," the fire extinguisher slipped out of Bertram's hands and clattered to the ground.

The number sent a shiver through him, and his knees went weak under him.

Alison's face changed color, then just as fast she pulled herself together and dug in.

"Four hundred grand, my ass! Quit lying!"

"A few busted sheets of metal—any body shop fixes that for a couple thousand!"

Then she lunged, grabbing for my phone, even clawing at my face.

"Shut that piece-of-junk phone off! Recording me, are you!"

This time I didn't dodge. My right hand closed on her wrist and twisted it up behind her back.

Alison shrieked. I pressed a hand to the back of her neck and pushed her face down onto the wrecked hood.

Tears sprang to her eyes from the pain, half her body limp and useless, unable to move.

"Still want to grab it?" I asked, cold.

The old woman panicked at the sight and came at me, screaming, both arms flailing.

"Let go of my daughter-in-law! You murdering little bitch!"

I released Alison and stepped aside. The old woman couldn't stop herself and was about to crash right into me.

I caught her wrist, sent her forward with the momentum, and hooked a foot in front of hers.

She lost her balance and dropped hard onto her backside. Something wrapped in red cloth flew out of her pocket.

It hit the concrete and broke into pieces—a shattered green jade pendant inside.

The old woman froze for a beat, then instantly rolled onto the ground, clutching her chest and wailing.

"Oh, my dear God!"

"She hit me! This vicious woman who knows kung fu shoved me down!"

She pointed at the broken jade on the floor and sobbed.

"My family heirloom! That's imperial-green jade from the Qing dynasty!"

"Someone once offered me two million for it and I wouldn't sell!"

"Today you're not just letting us go—you're paying me two million! Or I'll die right here in front of you!"

The extortion figure had shot up to two million, and every coworker standing around was dumbstruck.

Someone quietly took out a phone and started filming.

Bertram caught on at once. From a few yards back he pointed at me and let loose.

"Cordelia Fox! Not only won't you donate, you go and beat up an old woman and smash our family heirloom!"

"This isn't over! You're fixing your own car and paying us two million!"

Alison rubbed her arm and climbed up off the ground.

"That's right! Everyone saw it—she used a dirty trick to shove an old lady!"

I looked at the pendant lying under the garage lights, giving off a plasticky sheen.

"Two million?"

I couldn't help it—I laughed out loud.

"This resin plastic trinket, the kind they sell three-for-ten at a street stall, and you've got the nerve to ask two million?"

"Ma'am, the threshold for 'especially large amounts' under the fraud statute is five hundred thousand."

"You open your mouth and it's two million. You're dead set on marching your whole family off to prison."

At that the old woman sat bolt upright.

"Bullshit! This is the real thing! I say it's real, so it's real!"

Bertram shouted across the distance.

"Don't think you can say whatever you want just because you can fight!"

"All we have to do is swear it was you, and if you don't want trouble you'll hand over the money like a good girl!"

I shook my head and pointed at the cameras built into the Porsche's body.

"You people don't just not understand the law—you don't understand technology either."

"This is surveillance mode."

"From the second you got near this car, the four cameras—front, back, left, right—have been uploading your every move to the cloud, full coverage, no blind spots. That includes the old lady losing her footing on her own and flinging out a plastic trinket."

I gave the phone in my hand a little shake.

"Also, I just hit the shortcut. The police are already on their way."

At the word police, the whole family's faces turned ugly.

Bertram whipped his head around to look at Alison, frantic.

"Honey, what do we do?"

Alison stared at me, teeth clenched.

"What's there to be scared of! My cousin is the company's HR director!"

"Cordelia Fox is just some hired hand. Even if the cops show up today, I'm going to skin her alive!"