Page 182 of Black Reign

Anger disappears.

Not completely.

Enough for curiosity to move beneath it.

GHOST: What does that mean?

Nothing.

Then:

VESPER: Someone died.

The back of my neck tightens.

ARGUS.

Adrien Beaumont.

My father's evasiveness.

I sit straighter.

GHOST: Who?

Vesper doesn't answer.

GHOST: Who died?

Finally:

VESPER: My father.

My entire body goes cold.

I look at the Blackwell tablet beside the Shakespeare book.

I don't need to open it.

The name has been sitting inside my head since California.

Adrien Beaumont.

Dead former Blackwell systems architect.

His archived file accessed during the ARGUS intrusion.

Vesper has been penetrating Blackwell systems.

Looking for answers about a dead father.

No.

Too clean.

Too obvious.

I refuse conclusions without proof.