“I want to go home. I want to see Dad. And Mom. And even Ethan’s parents. Mrs. Landry’s probably going nuts.” Teeny moves away from me and hits the mattress, soft at first and then much harder. “I hate Thomas. And Tyler. And can you believe Tyler was lying to you back then? I mean, everything he said about who he was—it was fake. I really liked him. If Thomas forced us to move from Florida, did he force us to move all those other times?” She falls back on the mattress. “We were like puppets.”
I have no answers for her and hearing Teeny voice all the same concerns I have is my undoing. I’ve tried to shut out thoughts of my parents, and Ethan’s parents, knowing they’re going out of their minds with worry. But I can’t anymore. And now this news from Tyler. We’re still puppets.
The people around me are dropping like flies—first, Agent Parker killed and now Noah taken away. There will be no way for the carriage full of people to miss me tonight. Thomas said he was going to be gone tonight when I was eavesdropping in the grate, and even though I think Tyler is nuts, I don’t think he’ll hurt me.
Once it’s dark, I’m going to throw that window open and yell at any person I see. I don’t trust the police but I don’t think they will do anything bad to me on the spot. I’m also worried about Dad and the Landrys, but I know they would want us to escape if we had a chance. If I can get us out of this building, then maybe we can sneak away. It’s a risk, but I don’t have any other options.
When I inch open the shutter, I’m shocked. There are three carriages, all full of people, parked on the street in front of the convent. And probably another ten people milling around on the sidewalk. It’s not a huge crowd but definitely more than I’ve seen the past few nights. In unison, every person picks up a camera and flashes pop like I’m the Duchess of Cambridge.
The door bursts open and Tyler, unmasked, fills the doorway. “What the hell did you do?”
I slam the shutter closed.
“What?” I go for the really confused, innocent face.
He stomps to the window and examines the shutters.
“You’ve screwed up so bad. I have to fix this. He’ll flip out when he gets back and sees what’s outside!”
I’m not sure he’s actually talking to me, more muttering to himself, but he’s scared. His eyes dart around the room and he’s rocking back and forth. I’ve never seen him like this and it’s freaking me out.
“You just had to stay here, tucked away until it was all over. That was it. That was the plan. This is bad. So bad.”
He pulls a cell phone from his back pocket and shows me the screen. It’s a dark, grainy picture.
“What is that?”
“It’s this building. And that,” he points to a whitish blob in the top of the image, “is you.”
There is no way anyone could make out the details of my face because it’s dark and too far away. Hell, you can barely tell there’s a person in that picture.
“You can’t tell that’s me! That could be anyone!”
“But the crowd is here because of that picture. You can’t stay here now. He’s here.” He taps the screen of his phone a few times before continuing, “Mateo is here.”
What! “I don’t understand? Why would Mateo be here?”
Tyler looks away from his phone. “Because Thomas was reeling him in slowly. We sent another message yesterday that brought him to the Quarter and the Quarter isn’t that big. He’s been wandering around the area all day. I don’t know if he’s just hanging around to see what the crowd is doing or if he thinks this has something to do with us. Either way, he’s right outside and you just stuck your head out of the damn window.”
My mouth is dry and it’s hard to squeak my question out. “But why is everyone here? I don’t understand.”
“The crazies saw that picture and now they want more. They think this place is haunted, like the stupid tour guides say.” He paces around the room and yells, “Son of a bitch!” And then his eyes fly to mine. “I can’t get Thomas on the phone. You can’t stay here. I can’t handle it if Mateo finds a way inside.” He grabs the phone and the keys and stops before he leaves the room. “Grab your stuff! We’re leaving.”
Teeny and I scramble around the room, grabbing not only our shoes but our jackets and other belongings we’ve accumulated. This is not our first grab and go. I’m not sure if I’m scared because Mateo is outside or because Tyler is freaking out.
We get to the door and I sneak a peek down the hall. I expect to find the assassin creeping toward us, but all I see is Tyler running down the hall.
“Wait! What about Ethan?”
He stops. He’s obviously fine with leaving him behind but I’m not.
“I won’t leave without him,” I say.
Tyler comes back and begrudgingly opens Ethan’s door.
Ethan’s on the mattress, right where I left him earlier, but gets up as quickly as he can when he sees Teeny and me.
I run in his room and resist tackle-hugging him. “Hurry, Ethan. We’ve gotta get out of here!”
