Gina had just changed into a pair of slacks and a cashmere sweater when the door to her bedroom flew open.
Mrs. Higgins marched in without knocking. She held a ring of brass keys in her hand.
"Mrs. Burris," Higgins announced, her nose in the air. "Old Mrs. Berger has instructed that, for your own safety given your... mental state... I am to hold the keys to your room. You are not to lock your door."
It was the beginning of the imprisonment. In her last life, Gina had handed them over, weeping.
Gina sat at her vanity, brushing her hair. She watched Higgins in the mirror.
"Get out," Gina said calmly.
Higgins scoffed. "This is the Burris house. You do as you are told."
Gina spun around on the stool. She picked up her phone and tapped the screen.
"Mrs. Higgins," Gina said. "You've been employed here for twenty years. Your salary is $150,000 a year."
Higgins frowned. "What of it?"
"I have your tax returns here," Gina lied smoothly, though she knew the facts from the future audit that had happened in her previous timeline. "And I have the invoices from the catering company you use. You've been inflating the costs by 30% and splitting the difference with your nephew, who owns the company. That's about $500,000 in embezzlement over five years."
Higgins' face drained of color. The keys jingled in her shaking hand. "That's... that's a lie! Mrs. Elberta trusts me!"
Gina stood up and walked toward her. "Also, the three cleaning staff you hired last month? They are undocumented. You're paying them below minimum wage and pocketing the rest. That is a federal felony, Higgins. Human trafficking, tax fraud..."
Gina stopped inches from the woman's face.
"If I call the IRS and ICE right now, do you think Hansford will protect you? Or will he throw you to the wolves to save his campaign?"
Higgins backed away, hitting the doorframe. Sweat beaded on her upper lip.
"Vesper," Gina called out.
Vesper stepped out of the walk-in closet, holding her phone. "911 is dialed, ma'am. Shall I press send?"
Higgins' knees gave way. She slumped against the wall. "No! Please, Mrs. Burris! Don't!"
The commotion had drawn attention. Two maids were peeking down the hallway, eyes wide.
"I can be generous," Gina said, her voice dropping to a terrifying whisper. "Pack your bags. Leave the estate within the hour. Tell Elberta you have a family emergency and you are resigning effective immediately."
"But..."
"One more word," Gina hissed, "and you will spend your retirement in federal prison."
Higgins dropped the keys on the floor. She scrambled up and ran down the hall, sobbing.
Gina looked at the maids down the hall. They quickly lowered their heads.
"Vesper," Gina said, loud enough for them to hear. "Pick up the keys. You are in charge of the household staff now."
"Yes, ma'am." Vesper bent down and retrieved the keys. "Effective leverage. Legal threats are cleaner than violence."
"Violence has its place," Gina said, turning back to her room. "But fear is sustainable."
From downstairs, Elberta's voice shrieked up the stairwell. "Gina! Get down here this instant!"
Gina checked her reflection in the mirror. She looked perfect.
She opened the top drawer of her vanity and took out a small glass vial. It was a relic from her past, a concentrated caffeine extract tucked into the lining of her emergency medical kit-a gift from her doctor father she'd always carried. Harmless to most, but to an elderly woman with a known heart arrhythmia, it was chaos in a bottle.
She slipped the vial into her sleeve.
"Showtime," she whispered.
