When six-year-old Mara Bell whispered that her hands hurt, the discreet camera mounted above the foyer was already streaming every second to her father's phone.

Marcus kept his gun raised, scanning the woods. "Don't touch it, Owen."

But Owen couldn't stop himself. His hands trembling with rage, he flipped the lid open. Inside rested a diamond pendant necklace. It was a silver locket shaped like a teardrop.

Owen choked on a sob. It was Sarah’s necklace. The one she was wearing the night she died—the one the police claimed was lost in the wreckage.

"They killed her," Owen rasped, gripping the locket so tightly the metal cut into his palm. "They murdered my wife, and then they sent that psychopath to live with my daughter."

Marcus lowered his weapon, his expression hardening. "Pack a bag. We need to move you and Mara to a secure location. If Rostova is playing these kinds of psychological games, she’s trying to force you into making a mistake."

"No," Owen said, his voice dropping an octave. He turned back toward the house. "If we run, she hunts us. She knows my routines, my passwords, the layout of my life. She wants Vanguard Data’s source code, or she wants whatever she thinks Sarah hid."

They walked back inside, locking the doors. Owen immediately called his chief of security at Vanguard Data, ordering a total lockdown of the company servers. Then, he knelt in front of Mara.

"Mara, honey, I need you to be very brave for Daddy," Owen said gently. "Do you remember the game we played when you were little? Hide and seek in the panic room?"

Mara nodded slowly.

"I need you to go in there and play a game on your iPad. Don't come out until I open the door. Understand?"

Once Mara was safely locked behind four inches of reinforced steel, Owen turned to Marcus. "You have your piece. I have a shotgun in the safe. Let’s wire the house. If she wants a war, I’m going to give her one."

As the sun set, casting long, menacing shadows across the sprawling property, Owen and Marcus sat in the dark living room, watching the security feeds.

At 11:00 PM, the power to the house was suddenly cut. The monitors died. The lights went out. The hum of the refrigerator stopped. Total, suffocating darkness.

Then, a sound. Click. Clack.

The distinct noise of the electronic smart lock on the front door disengaging.