Me:… No?
Everest:Vincent confirmed that he’s in a black Mercedes. He hasn’t changed it.
Me:OK, so… who are the two men the waitress saw?
Logan:Two random men, maybe?
Everest:Noel is by himself, anyway.
Me:But they were Hispanic. What are the chances of that in this cracker-ass town?
Logan:IDK, but the important thing is he isn’t here. Doesn’t look like he’s planning to come. Which means, I guess he saw through our bluff.
Me: Or maybe he chose Lucy after all.
Everest:No. We obviously set up a camera there too. She’s still nicely buried. Dead by now, 100% guaranteed.
Me: Ok, so… what does it mean if he saw through our bluff?
My blood freezes in my veins as I type out the question. Even before Logan sends me back a message, I know the answer.Since Noel didn’t fall for our trick, it means he must have figured out thereallocation of our house.
He figured it out… or he knew it all along.
My whole body grows cold. I leave the closet door in slow motion, walking back to my car, as if in a dream.
If he knew the real location all along… it means that by the time I return, it will be too late. I’ve been gone more nearly twenty-four hours. Seraphina will be dead. And it will all be because of me.
I choke up at the thought, and as I reach my car, I’m taken by the violent need to throw up. The contents of my sole meal today, that goddamn peach cobbler, splash to the floor. I’m still vomiting a minute later, dry heaving, my stomach empty.
But there’s still a chance. I cling wildly to that slim hope. Maybe he didn’t know. Maybe he realized we’d set him up, but he didn’t know where our house actually was.
Lucy admitted to everything, and she swore she didn’t have the location of the house. Igor told me he believed her, and he’s always been able to tell when our prisoners are lying.
Noel probably understood enough to realize that if we were setting him up, it was because I was planning to kill him. He knew I would leave Seraphina’s side tonight. He probably figured that tonight was his only chance to get to her without having to fight me.
But if he didn’t know the location of our house, then he had to find out. And that means time wasted searching. There’s a tiny chance he hasn’t gotten to her yet.
I jump into the car, pushing down on the waves of nausea that still threaten to overtake me. I start driving twice over the speed limit, putting my cell phone on speaker.
“Did you figure it out?” I yell. “Where is he?”
“I don’t understand,” stammers Everest, “the home surveillance system isn’t working. It’s like it’s been disabled.Vincent’s trying to hack into the closest camera there.”
“What the fuck? Hurry!” I fume.
“Yeah, trying… trying…”
“It’s going to be fine, man,” tries to soothe Logan. “I’m sure he hasn’t found her yet… I’m sure…”
“Remind me why I haven’t killed you yet?” I growl, and he thankfully shuts up.
“Okay, yes,” says Everest at last. “A camera did film his car. About five minutes ago, heading down the main highway, ten minutes away from the house.”
“That means there’s still hope,” tentatively suggests Logan. “He only just found the right location. He must have spent all night searching for it.”
“It means I’m too late!” I groan. “It means he’ll be there in five minutes. And I’m still thirty minutes away.”
“Call her now,” says Logan urgently.
