The SUV pulled up a winding road lined with trees, hidden behind a rusted gate that opened with a coded buzz. The house came into view, modern, flat-roofed, all stone and glass, tucked deep in the hills like it wanted to disappear.

Dante killed the engine.

Mandy sat still, her arms folded tight around the duffel.

"This doesn't look temporary," she muttered.

"It isn’t."

He came around, opened her door. She stepped out, scanning the shadowed treeline, the motion-sensor lights that flicked ...