“No,” Brian said firmly. “I’ll go with Lila. While you don’t think so, video games help us with this sort of thing.”
Nolan looked conflicted, but finally nodded. “Okay, but we’ll be right here. You two be careful.”
“Wait!” Mia said suddenly, grasping her locket and pulling it off. “Lila, take this.”
“Mom!” Lila looked at her with wide eyes. “Why?”
“I...” Mia couldn’t explain it. She just knew Lila needed it. “Just to keep you safe.”
Lila hugged her tightly. “We’ll be fine.”
She slipped the locket over her head and tucked it under her shirt.
“And when you get what’s on the other side...” A deep voice came from behind them.
They all froze.
Turned.
“You!” Mia and Nolan hissed in unison as a man entered, pushing Eve and David into the room.
Preston Langford.
The pleasant guest from the Inn. The man who’d tipped his hat and interrupted Mia and Nolan’s almost-kiss.
“See, I told you we’d find a way into that vault,” Preston said to David, his voice smug.
“Dad...” Mia breathed, her eyes shooting to Eve. “Eve...”
“We’re fine, honey,” David assured her, though his eyes were dark with fury. His gaze moved to Lila. “Lila, let me do it.”
“Uh-uh,” Preston said, waving his gun and shaking his head. “Let them do it.”
“No!” David hissed and was about to lunge at Preston.
“I wouldn’t do that,” another voice came from the stairs.
Calvin marched William, Julie, and Milly down into the basement, a large gun trained on them.
“Your gun,” Calvin told Nolan.
Nolan carefully lifted his weapon, put it on the floor, and kicked it over to Calvin.
“Now that we’re all here,” Preston drawled, his eyes glittering with malice. “Let’s get all the stuff from that safe, shall we?”
21
LILA
Lila’s heart hammered in her chest as she and Brian stood at the threshold of the vault.
“Okay,” she whispered, looking down at the book. “According to this, we need to avoid the third tile completely. Step on the second one, then jump to the fifth.”
“Got it,” Brian said, his voice tight.
They stepped forward together.
Lila’s foot hit the second tile.
