Chapter 1 1

A heavy, stained duffel bag hit the mud with a wet slap, splashing black water onto the hem of Serena's jeans.

She didn't flinch. She didn't blink. She just watched the dirty water soak into the fabric, feeling the damp cold seep through to her ankle.

Karen Miller stood in the doorway of the rusted trailer, hands jammed onto her hips. Her face was twisted, red patches blooming on her neck the way they always did when she screamed.

"Get your trash and get out!" Karen shrieked, her voice cracking like dry wood. "Three months without a dime, Serena! You think we run a charity here? You're a leech. A useless, money-sucking leech!"

Buck Miller leaned against the doorframe, a crushed beer can dangling from his fingers. He took a swig, foam catching in his graying stubble, and let out a low, raspy laugh.

"Should've kicked her out years ago," he muttered, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "Parasite."

Tiffany squeezed past her father, her pink pajama bottoms dragging in the dirt. They were two sizes too small, the elastic cutting into her waist. She smirked, her eyes darting over Serena's worn-out coat.

"Guess you couldn't even keep that register job at the gas station, huh?" Tiffany giggled. "Loser."

Serena stood perfectly still in the biting wind of Upstate New York. Her expression was a flat line. Her eyes were dark, empty pools that reflected nothing of the three people standing on the metal steps.

She bent down. Her movements were fluid, precise. She picked up the muddy bag not like a girl evicted from a trailer, but like a woman retrieving a briefcase in a boardroom.

She looked at the trailer one last time. Ten years. Ten years of shouting, of the smell of stale beer and cigarettes, of sleeping on a mattress with springs that dug into her ribs.

Endure, Grandma had said. Wait for the signal.

"Debt paid," Serena whispered.

She turned her back on them.

"Hey! I'm talking to you!" Karen screamed, her voice rising an octave. She grabbed the empty beer can from Buck's hand and hurled it.

The aluminum clattered past Serena's ear, missing by an inch, and landed in a puddle with a hollow splash.

Serena didn't break stride. She raised her right hand, her fingers poised.

Snap.

The sound was crisp, cutting through the wind.

Fifty yards away, hidden in the brush, Jax pressed a button.

BOOM.

The ground shuddered. A roar of heat and sound erupted behind her. The propane tank, rigged to look like a catastrophic failure of old equipment, blew the side of the trailer out.

A fireball rolled into the gray sky, orange and black, consuming the plastic lawn chairs in a single breath.

Buck and Karen collapsed onto the muddy ground, their screams lost in the ringing aftermath of the explosion. Tiffany scrambled backward, hands over her ears, soot already smearing her face, making her look like a grotesque clown.

Serena kept walking. The heat from the fire warmed the back of her neck, a stark contrast to the freezing air on her face. She didn't look back. Not once.

At the end of the muddy track, where the gravel met the pavement, a beast waited.

A black Rolls-Royce Phantom sat idling, its polished surface reflecting the flames like a dark mirror. It was out of place, a diamond in a landfill.

Serena stopped at the rear door.

A man in a tuxedo stepped out. Chambers. He moved with a stiffness that spoke of age but an agility that spoke of discipline. He wore white gloves.

He opened the door.

"Miss Vance," Chambers said, his voice low, respectful. "Mr. and Mrs. Vance are waiting for you."

Behind them, in the wreckage, the Millers were frozen. Karen's mouth hung open, wide enough to catch flies. Tiffany's eyes were bulging, red with smoke and envy, fixed on the car.

Buck scrambled to his feet, his greed overriding his shock. He took a step toward the car, mouth opening to demand payment, to demand something.

A "passerby" in a hoodie-Jax-moved with chilling efficiency. He stuck out a foot. Buck went down face-first into the mud.

Serena slid into the backseat. The smell of hand-stitched leather filled her nose, replacing the stench of burning plastic.

Chambers closed the door. The silence was instant. Heavy. absolute.

Serena pulled a small, black device from her pocket. Her thumbs flew over the keys.

Asset secured. Local PD has been... redirected. Welcome back to your world, Ghost.

She read the message, then powered the device down. She closed her eyes. She inhaled deeply, holding the breath in her lungs, feeling her heart rate slow from a combat rhythm to a resting beat.

When she opened her eyes, the cold, dead look was gone. In its place was a softness, a vulnerability. The mask of the lost daughter.

The car began to move, the tires crushing the beer can into the asphalt as they headed toward Manhattan.