CHAPTER 1

CARRIE

Growing up, Carrie’s home life was nothing like her friend Gina’s. Where Gina had more loving attention than she could stand, Carrie’s mother, when home, was usually raging over some detail forgotten by the household staff. Carrie was the only child of very wealthy people. Her father was a vice-president at Kendall Innovations Incorporated, a massive enterprise founded by her maternal grandfather, Justice Kendall. Justice Kendall was a visionary with an imagination beyond the wildest dreams of most other entrepreneurs and business moguls. Several times a year, Carrie stayed at her grandparents’ house while her parents toured the world with friends. Their home overlooked the glorious Golden Gate Bridge and the San Francisco skyline beyond. From the hilltop perch, she could watch tankers and other cargo-laden ships passing beneath the towering icon, leaving a wake in the cold, white-peaked chop.

Carrie spent a lot of time watching the activity on the bay waters by day and the river of light pouring across the bridge at night—a solid red flow from southbound traffic, neon white heading north. This was the view from her bedroom there; a little girl’s dream in pink-and-white frills. A private toy land dominated by a fluffy bed covered with stuffed animals. She loved her room and was allowed to wander freely throughout the mansion and its gardens, but grandfather’s impressive office was off limits. Carrie visited that room only by invitation. It was where her grandfather s