“Fuck. Stay here.”
Dad was already moving past us. Luc rested a hand on him to hold him back.
“Stay, Raphael.”
“This is my home. How dare they come in here,” Dad snarled.
“Mr. Rossi, please,” Millicent offered. “Please stay, you… aren’t well.”
Beads of sweat formed on her upper lip. Strange because it wasn’t exactly hot in here. Must be the anxiety. I felt that too.
I moved past Luc and Dad.
“Amelia, you stay here with your father and Millicent.”
“No, I won’t stay. We go together.”
“Remember what happened when you—”
I didn’t allow him to finish. I moved on ahead of him through the door. He followed me and took hold of my arm to pull me back.
“Jesus, Amelia, don’t you understand I’m trying to keep you safe?”
“Yes. I do. I understand, but you know I’m not useless. I want to see who this person is.”
“Stay beside me and don’t break away. Stay with me.”
“I will,” I assured him.
From his back pocket he whipped out a gun and handed it to me. He then took out his gun from his side pocket and held it up ready to fire.
Like I’d promised, I stayed beside him, and we proceeded up the steps and on to the second floor, where the library was situated.
Who could it be?
Who was it?
And… how did they know to go to the library?
How the fuck would they have known that? Itwasjust Dad and me talking that day in the garden. There’d been no one else.
No one sawme when I went to the library. I’d made sure of it.
I heard shuffling in there as we approached and books being thrown around.
“How the fuck hard can it be to find a safe?” came a voice I recognized well.
It couldn’t be.
Luc and I walked into the library and saw not only Jefferson but Holloway inside.
They stopped throwing the books from the shelf and turned to meet our gazes.
“Well, well, well. I see we just discovered who the rats are,” Luc mused, pointing his gun at them. “Not one but two of them. Vermin. Fucking vermin.”
My mouth and throat were dry.
Shock flew through me. Shock and surprise, tangled with betrayal. More betrayal. I would never have guessed it was them.
