Chapter 1 - The Girl in the Glass
The bride was still screaming when the billionaire ordered the water turned on.
“Turn it off!” a man shouted from the ballroom floor.
The pumps roared louder.
Inside the twelve-foot glass cylinder, a young woman in a torn ivory dress slammed both palms against the wall. Bubbles tore out of her mouth. A steel cuff fastened her wrist to a pipe near the bottom. Above her, crystal chandeliers glittered over three hundred guests who stood frozen with champagne glasses in their hands.
Ethan Cross shoved through the crowd. His tuxedo jacket was borrowed, his knuckles were scarred, and nothing about him belonged at the Ashford Foundation's charity gala. He had come to ask one question about his missing sister. Now he was looking at a woman drowning in front of people rich enough to buy a hospital.
“Break it!” he barked.
A guard grabbed his arm. Ethan drove an elbow into the man's ribs, snatched a banquet chair, and swung. The metal legs rang against the glass. No crack.
“It's reinforced,” said a woman beside him. She wore a gold dress and the same stunned expression as everyone else. “That's exhibit glass.”
“Then find the release.”
The woman stared at the captive. “That's my daughter.”
Ethan's next strike shattered the chair, not the tank. Water had climbed past the captive's shoulders. He met her eyes through the glass, and something cold moved through him. She wasn't begging. She was pointing toward the floor.
A black control cable ran from the tank beneath the stage. Ethan dropped, ripped back the carpet, and found a silver box with a keypad. The woman in gold knelt beside him.
“Her name is Nora,” she whispered. “She was supposed to be dead.”
Ethan punched the emergency latch with the broken chair leg. A red light flashed. The pump stopped. A valve snapped open and the water began to drain, painfully slowly.
A voice rolled from the ballroom speakers, warm as a toast. “Ladies and gentlemen, please remain calm. This is part of tonight's presentation.”
Ethan turned toward the balcony. Victor Ashford, silver-haired and smiling, lifted his glass.
Nora struck the glass again, desperate now, and held up two fingers.
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On the giant screen behind Victor appeared a live feed of a second tank. Inside it floated a teenage girl with Ethan's sister's face.
“Choose,” Victor said. “You only have time to save one.”
