I shove the book back into the suitcase and shove myself to my feet. The elevator doors ding open and I throw myself inside, jabbing at the lobby button. The doors close and I’m enveloped in soft, calming music.
I can’t help but laugh. The relief is palpable. The fallout from this attack is going to be massive, but at least we’ll weather it now that I have the book back. I’ll have to spend money, resources, call in favors?—
But we’ll survive.
The doors open again. My men are there waiting with guns drawn. They hustle inside when they see me and I’m pulled to my feet.
“Sir, you’re in rough shape,” one of them says. “You have burns. I’m pretty sure you’ve been shot.”
“But I have it,” I say, grinning wickedly. “I have it. Call the others, tell them to get it.”
“Good timing. This place is going to burn to the ground.”
We rush back outside. The fresh air is painfully good. I slump against a truck, the briefcase clutched in my left hand, as I takeout my phone with my right. I call Saverino to tell him the good news.
“Stellan? Are you okay?” He sounds like he’s on the edge of losing it. “I heard there was a firefight?—”
“I got the book back.”
He lets out a grunt. “That’s good. That’s really good. But listen, something happened. I don’t know what.”
Dread hits me. This should be a joyous moment, except Saverino sounds like he’s marching in front of a death squad. “Tell me.”
“There was a fight… at your house. I think your wife and your sister-in-law are there. The soldiers you sent… they were intercepted…”
He says more, but I don’t hear.
I throw the phone onto the passenger seat, leap behind the wheel of the truck, and peel out.
KIRA
I’m afraid for Stellan when I get back to the house. I wish he was here with me, but I know what he’s doing is important. I make my way up to Gem’s floor and find her sitting in a little reading nook, textbooks open in her lap. She’s slumped sideways, not moving, her eyes closed?—
“Huh? Oh, hey.” She startles, smiling blearily. “You’re home. When did that happen?”
I hug her tight. “Just got in now.”
“Why do you smell so badly?”
“It’s a really long story.”
“Let me guess. That story involves Mom fucking something up.”
“Basically, yeah.”
“Tell me everything.”
I slip into the nook with her, and for a long moment, I just enjoy being close to my sister again. I missed her like crazy, and seeing my mother only reminded me of all the reasonsI’ve been working so hard. Even though Mom’s an asshole who abandoned us, I won’t be that person.
I tell Gem about the trailer park, about Mom’s little house, and about the pawn shop. I leave off the part about nearly getting killed.
“God, that sounds just like her, doesn’t it? She takes something important and pawns it for almost nothing.”
“But at least we found it, right?”
“Totally. Wow, look at you. Already getting used to the life.”
“The life of what?”
