Page 74 of Black Reign

Nobody wins with him.

Nobody wins with me either.

Maybe that explains why I keep coming back.

The encrypted invitation sits inside NULL now, waiting like a dare.

I open it for the fourth time.

There is no crest.

No photograph.

No names.

No mention of a bride or groom.

Nothing that connects Ghost to anybody in his real life.

Just three pieces of information floating against the black screen.

OCTOBER 10

1:30 P.M.

CALIFORNIA

Beneath that is a precise location with longitude and latitude complete with a bulls eye.

A private coastal estate.

That's it.

Typical Ghost.

He invites me across an ocean and somehow manages to reveal absolutely nothing about himself in the process.

I stare at the address.

“Coward.”

The screen does not defend him.

I zoom in on the map instead.

Coastline.

Cliffs.

A sprawling private property positioned above the Pacific far enough from the nearest public road to make casual access nearly impossible.

Expensive.

Very expensive.

That tells me almost nothing.

Ghost understands money. I've known that for years.