ADRIAN'S POV
The elevator climbed silently toward the apex of the villa, leaving the damp, echoing grotto and the ghost of Clara Hayes behind. Beside me, Nate stood like a statue, his gaze fixed on the brushed-steel doors. He was vibrating at a frequency I recognized not fear, but the high-tensile hum of a man whose past had just collided with his future.
"You're thinking about the badge," I said softly, and knew for a fact that Nate was still troubled by the fact that he had left a life he had built for so many years.
Nate didn't turn. "I'm thinking about the fact that Clara Vance is alive because she's smart, and she's here because she's loyal. Both of those things make her the most dangerous variable on this island."
