Chapter 15: The Matriarch's Web
Eleanor Thorne resided in a sprawling, heavily mortgaged estate in Marin County, her ankle monitor a humiliating reminder of her fall from grace. Elena bypassed the perimeter security with muscle memory, slipping through the shadows of the manicured gardens.
She found the older woman in the conservatory, sipping tea as if the world hadn't ended. When Eleanor saw the gun pointed at her head, she merely smiled, a cold, reptilian curving of her lips.
"You always were remarkably resourceful, Evelyn," Eleanor said smoothly. "But you're too late. Vanguard knows you destroyed the drives. They are going to extract the access codes directly from your mind, and then they will discard you."
