Thirty Years of Ash

The words dropped the room into silence.

The young woman who'd been scowling into her phone went rigid.

She raised her head, locked a sharp look on me, and her voice came out cold.

"What's that supposed to mean?

"Are you trying to take what's mine?"

I let my eyes move over her face, unhurried.

Fine, bold features, the corner of her mouth tipped up.

All of it carrying the easy contempt of someone who'd never been told no.

Thirty years ago a woman had sat in the front row of an auction and smiled while she ground my sister's life to powder.

This girl had her eyes exactly.

I looked away and turned a page in the catalog.

My voice stayed flat, as if none of it touched me.

"An auction goes to the highest bidder.

"Until the hammer falls, everyone in this room has the right to bid.

"So why shouldn't I? And where does taking come into it?"

I wasn't the girl who could only stand and watch while her sister was worn down until she died.

For thirty years I'd worked real estate, building from nothing to what I had now.

People called me a tacky nouveau-riche developer and laughed.

But this was the moment I'd been waiting for.

The man beside me was a business partner of many years.

Warren Pike's face changed, and he grabbed my sleeve.

"Have you lost your mind?"

His breathing had gone quick, and his eyes darted toward the young woman ahead of us.

"That's the Aldrich girl. Her parents have been in politics for decades.

"You've got money, sure. They've got money and power."

Terrified I'd do something on impulse that couldn't be undone, he talked faster.

"You've got no quarrel with Miss Aldrich. Why wade into this and torch your own future?"

The young woman heard him, and a faint smile touched her mouth.

She wasn't angry.

There was only a thread of contempt at the corners of her eyes.

Warren finally let out a breath.

He stood and smiled at her, humble and placating.

"My friend doesn't know how things work in here. It was just a joke. Please don't hold it against her, Miss Aldrich."

Satisfied, she curved her lips and turned away.

She lifted one elegant hand and raised her paddle.

"One million."

No one followed.

Nobody in that room was stupid. The photographs were what they were, and no one crossed the Aldriches.

Everyone took it as settled.

A second later I raised my hand, unhurried, and spoke evenly.

"One million and ten thousand."

The smile went off her face, and her expression dropped into something flat and dark.

She laughed, cold.

"You're sure you want to go up against me?

"Don't do something you'll regret."

Beside me Warren had gone white, signaling at me without stopping.

Nathaniel Voss, the auctioneer, looked tense, but the rules gave him nowhere to go.

"Ms. Sutter, are you confirming?"

I met the room's mixed stares and said it one word at a time.

"I'll outbid them all.

"Whatever she bids, I add ten thousand. Every time."