CHAPTER 28: GRAYSON

Grayson reassesses the situation around Gigi, the copied key, the upcoming party, and the search for Sheffield Grayson’s safe-deposit box. Grayson’s goal shifts from stopping Gigi from opening the box to getting inside it first, because the FBI might uncover evidence of Sheffield’s financial crimes or his plot against Avery.

Grayson examines the object he took from Sheffield’s office, initially believing it to be a USB drive. When the object will not fit his adapter, Grayson realizes it is not a USB at all but some kind of non-digital device with tiny pegs inside. Grayson also studies the apparently blank index card from Sheffield’s office and notices three notches cut into its edges, treating the items like one of Tobias Hawthorne’s old puzzles even as Grayson reminds himself this is not a game.

Xander calls, immediately sensing that something is wrong from the way Grayson answers. Grayson explains the fake USB and blank card, and Xander suggests possible invisible-ink tests. When Xander asks about Grayson’s sister, Grayson reflexively corrects him to “sisters,” revealing that Grayson has begun to think of Gigi and Savannah as people he needs to protect, even while insisting that Savannah’s distrust will complicate his work.

Xander teases Grayson but also pushes him toward acknowledging his emotions about Sheffield, Acacia, the family portrait, and the girls. Grayson resists and hangs up when another call comes in.

The second caller is an unfamiliar young woman who refuses to identify herself but says the Hawthorne family has taken a great deal from her. When Grayson assumes she means Tobias Hawthorne, she tells him that her father shot and killed himself when she was four and that she was the only person in the house. Grayson demands to know how she got his number, and after snapping back that those were not her father’s last words, the girl hangs up without revealing what those words were.

Grayson tries to distance himself from Tobias Hawthorne’s past and refocuses on the immediate tasks: testing the index card for invisible ink and preparing for the high school party.