Chapter 1 - The Glass on the Floor
Daniel Mercer caught Evelyn's wrist before she could reach the pitcher.
"Don't touch it."
Her fingers froze an inch above the glass handle.
Across the terrace, guests who had been whispering seconds earlier went quiet again. One hundred eyes shifted from Evelyn to the young gardener standing beside the shattered glass.
Mateo Reyes still had a red mark across his cheek where she had slapped him.
He did not look away.
A security guard stepped between Evelyn and the gate while another took the pitcher from the table with both hands.
"Call the police," Daniel said.
Evelyn jerked free. "Daniel, this is insane. You are humiliating me because a gardener made up a story."
Mateo raised his phone.
"The video isn't made up."
Daniel watched his wife's mouth tighten.
That was the first thing she could not explain.
The second was the powder.
When the first detective arrived, he sealed the pitcher, the broken glass, and Mateo's phone in separate evidence bags. Daniel stood beside the dining table without sitting, one hand gripping the back of a chair until his knuckles turned pale.
"What was it?" he asked.
"We don't know yet," Detective Lena Ortiz said. "Nobody drinks anything else from this table. Nobody leaves until we've taken names."
Evelyn laughed once, but the sound broke halfway out.
"You're treating me like a murderer."
Ortiz looked at her. "Did you put something in the pitcher?"
Evelyn opened her mouth.
Nothing came out.
Daniel stepped closer.
"Answer her."
Evelyn's breathing shortened.
Mateo noticed Daniel's younger brother, Thomas, standing near the French doors with a white dinner napkin in one hand. Thomas rubbed his fingertips against it, slow and careful, then folded the napkin into his pocket.
Mateo's eyes stayed on him.
Thomas noticed.
For half a second, neither man moved.
Then Evelyn whispered, "Yes."
A woman near the fountain gasped.
Daniel's jaw locked.
"You put something in my drink?"
"Not poison."
"What did you put in it?"
"It was supposed to make you sleep. That's all."
Daniel shoved the chair away. It struck the stone floor and toppled.
"You drugged me?"
"I was scared."
"Of what?"
"Of what you were going to do after tonight."
Thomas moved forward. "Daniel, don't do this here. Let the police handle it."
Mateo saw Evelyn's eyes flick toward him.
Thomas stopped.
Daniel saw it too.
"Who gave you the powder?"
Evelyn pressed both hands against the edge of the table.
"I can explain."
"Who?"
"Daniel—"
"Say the name."
The terrace lights flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Mateo looked toward the mansion.
The chandeliers inside died at the same instant.
Music stopped mid-note.
The pool lights vanished.
Someone screamed.
Daniel reached for Evelyn, but bodies shifted in the dark and a chair crashed beside him.
"Nobody move!" Ortiz shouted.
Mateo turned toward the French doors.
A shadow crossed the upstairs landing.
Fast.
Then glass exploded somewhere above them.
Evelyn grabbed Daniel's sleeve.
"He's here."
Daniel seized her shoulders.
"Who is here?"
A second crash came from upstairs.
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And this time, Mateo heard footsteps running toward Evelyn's bedroom.
