The floor.
Nothing.
Then she noticed the mirror.
It had been replaced recently.
“Who replaced this?”
The manager frowned.
“Years ago.”
“Do you have the old one?”
“No.”
Naomi looked at Richard.
“Where would the original go?”
The manager thought.
“Storage.”
They found it in the basement.
Naomi turned the mirror over.
There was a handwritten message scratched into the wood.
EVELYN — YOU WERE ALWAYS BETTER AT HIDING THAN I WAS.
Naomi's heart raced.
Below the words was a sequence of numbers.
4 — 12 — 7 — 21.
Henry recognized it.
“Coordinates?”
“No.”
Naomi shook her head.
“Book cipher.”
She took out Claire's journal.
Page 4.
Line 12.
Word 7.
Then page 21.
They decoded the message.
FERRY BUILDING. CLOCK TOWER. MIDNIGHT. COME ALONE.
Richard stared.
“It's a trap.”
“I know.”
“Then don't go.”
Naomi looked at him.
“She wants me there.”
“That's exactly why.”
Naomi smiled sadly.
“She has been waiting twenty-eight years.”
Then a voice came from behind them.
“You're finally beginning to understand.”
Everyone turned.
The woman stood in the doorway.
Naomi knew immediately.
The same face as her mother.
But harder.
Older.
Colder.
Evelyn Carter.
She looked directly at Naomi.
“My sister's daughter.”
Naomi's hands tightened.
“You killed my mother.”
Evelyn smiled.
“No.”
She stepped forward.
“I killed the woman who was trying to destroy what we built.”
Naomi's eyes hardened.
“My mother.”
Evelyn nodded.
“Yes.”
“And you regret nothing?”
Evelyn looked at the mirror.
“I regret that she made me choose.”
Then she turned toward Naomi.
“You have no idea what your mother was willing to do to Northstar.”
“What was she willing to do?”
Evelyn smiled.
“She was willing to destroy the world we built.”
THE SISTERS
The old Ferry Building clock tower was empty.
Rain tapped against the windows.
Evelyn stood beneath the clock.
Naomi entered alone.
At least, that was what Evelyn believed.
Henry and Richard waited in a neighboring building with a clear view of the entrance.
Naomi walked toward her aunt.
“You wanted me here.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because you're the last person who still has a choice.”
Naomi laughed bitterly.
“You murdered my mother.”
“Yes.”
“You manipulated Victor.”
“Yes.”
“You helped build Northstar.”
“Yes.”
“And now you want to talk about choices?”
Evelyn remained calm.
“Your mother made hers.”
“She chose to expose you.”
“She chose to destroy everything.”
“Maybe it deserved to be destroyed.”
Evelyn's expression changed.
“You think Northstar is evil because you've seen its worst.”
“What is good about it?”
“It prevented wars.”
Naomi stared.
“What?”
“Do you know how many conflicts never happened because Northstar predicted them?”
“No.”
“How many financial crashes were softened because we moved capital before governments knew?”
“No.”
“How many corrupt officials were stopped because we had information on them?”
Naomi shook her head.
“You're describing blackmail.”
“I am describing power.”
“You stole land.”
“We invested.”
“You manipulated elections.”
“We protected stability.”
“You ruined families.”
“Some families deserved to fall.”
Naomi stepped closer.
“You sound exactly like Victor.”
Evelyn smiled.
“Victor learned from me.”
“Then you admit it.”
“I admit everything.”
That surprised Naomi.
Evelyn walked toward the window.
“Your mother believed the world could be governed by good people.”
“She believed people could be held accountable.”
“She was naïve.”
“And you were what?”
“Practical.”
“No.”
Naomi shook her head.
“You were afraid.”
Evelyn turned.
“Of what?”
“That if people had freedom, you couldn't control them.”
For the first time, Evelyn looked angry.
“You know nothing about me.”
“I know enough.”
“You know what Claire told you.”
“My mother told me the truth.”
“Your mother told you a story.”
Evelyn opened a folder.
Inside were photographs.
Claire.
Richard.
Samuel.
Victor.
James.
And Naomi.
As a baby.
“Your mother was not innocent.”
Naomi stared.
“She worked with Northstar.”
“She did.”
“She helped build the financial models.”
“Yes.”
“She approved transactions.”
Naomi felt the ground shift.
“She was part of it.”
“For a time.”
Evelyn smiled.
“Then she became obsessed with destroying it.”
“Why?”
“Because she discovered the system could not distinguish between good and evil.”
Naomi frowned.
“What does that mean?”
Evelyn handed her a document.
It was the original Northstar algorithm.
The system had been designed to identify risk.
Political risk.
Financial risk.
Social risk.
But over time it had evolved.
It ranked people.
Institutions.
Cities.
Governments.
Even families.
At the bottom of the document was a category:
THREAT TO SYSTEMIC CONTROL.
Naomi read the names.
Claire Carter.
Richard Calloway.
Mei Lin.
Thomas.
James.
And finally—
NAOMI CARTER.
She stared.
“I was classified as a threat before I was born.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because your mother transferred the original ownership key to you.”
Naomi looked up.
“The trust.”
Evelyn nodded.
“Your mother knew Northstar could not legally be destroyed without the consent of its original beneficiary.”
“And that's me.”
“Yes.”
“So you killed her to get the key.”
“No.”
Evelyn's voice became quiet.
“I killed her because she refused to tell me where she had hidden it.”
Naomi stared.
“And she never told you.”
“No.”
“Because she gave it to me.”
“Yes.”
Evelyn smiled.
“Exactly.”
Naomi suddenly understood.
The pendant.
The black box.
The $47 million.
The trust.
The entire system had been designed around her identity.
Her mother hadn't merely protected her.
She had made Naomi the legal heir to everything Northstar had ever controlled.
Evelyn wanted the trust.
Victor wanted the trust.
Samuel wanted to destroy the trust.
And Naomi alone could decide what happened next.
Evelyn stepped closer.
“Sign the transfer.”
Naomi looked at the document.
“No.”
Evelyn's expression hardened.
“Then Richard dies.”
A screen appeared.
Richard was shown in another room.
Naomi's heart stopped.