The room stilled, everyone looking at me, then at Ned.
Jim sighed. “Hee-haw,” he said under his breath.
Ned was white. “N-no, no way,” he said, but he was stuttering. “It wasn’t… Doll, it wasn’t like that.”
“What was itlike?” My voice broke as a sob escaped me. If they’d kill Joey, they’d kill Alex. They’d kill all of us.
“It was—”
“Ned,” Jim barked. “Shut up. You’ve done enough damage already. Give me that gun.”
“What? But—”
“Hand it over.” Silent Jim held out his hand for Sicily’s contribution to the armory, then packed it into a pocket inside his coat, glancing my way. But now he had the other one aimed at Alex.
And what would happen when they found out there was no Capone hoard, that it was all nothing but a story for the tourists?
“Jim, please,” I said. I couldn’t get a full breath. “Please don’t hurt anyone. There’s no treasure. There’s no reason for all this.”
“Am I Jim?” A crocodile smile I’d never seen spread across Silent Jim’s face. “I always wondered which one of us…”
Across the room, Lumpy spoke up tremulously. “Myname is Jim?”
“Alex says there’s treasure, and he should know,” Silent Jim said. “If he delivers on that promise, I’ll bring him back safe and sound. And no one ever needs to learn my name.”
Before I knew what I was doing, I reached for his elbow.
He swept my hand away. “Don’t be a hero, kid.”
“Dahlia McPhee,” Alex said. “Look at yourself.”
Oona had reached to pull me back, but now we both stared at Alex.
Whathad he just called me?
“Just let them lock everyone in here,” Alex said, looking at me so directly I realized how seldom it happened. “It’s a good spot,” he said. “There’s a bathroom and it’s secure. Everyone will be safe if you just… Just look yourself in the eye. Concentrate on keeping everyone safe. We can all get out.”
Jim clucked his tongue. “Great plan, Alex. You heard him. Everyone stays where they are. Ned, let’s go.”
I watched Silent Jim lead Alex out of sight, a pit opening up in my stomach. What if he—
Ned pulled the door, grinning. Closing us in. The dead bolt was set from the outside with a sharp retort that I felt all through my body.
“What wasthat?” Oona said.
“Shh,” Quin said. He went to the door and pressed an ear to it. “Okay, I think they’re gone. Dahlia, where is this treasure?”
I turned on Quin, shaking. “You’re one of them,” I said. “I knew it. Divide and get one of us to show you where the big black X is? There is notreasure. Tell your goon boss that this is all a waste of his time. It’s definitely not worth… eight to fourteen life sentences.”
Marisa tightened her grasp on Sicily.
“If one of those sentences is for my life,” Lourey said, “I’m definitely going to hold you responsible, Doll Devine.”
“DollDevine,” Oona murmured.
Quin stood back. “Forget the treasure. What I mean is, where would Alex be taking them? How much time do we have?”
There was no gangster stockpile, but Ned must know it by now. He already had a set of keys. He’d always had full run of the place. He could have been looking all this time. Maybe he had been.
