Lev pushes some buttons on his phone, and a panoramic screen comes down from the ceiling, lighting up once it reaches its final spot.
“Here’s what we know. Lydia was contacted shortly before Ariah’s arrival,” Lev begins, and Owen immediately cuts him off.
“Are you trying to tell me Ariah’s arrival was known, and her kidnapping was planned long before she even moved here?”
Pulling up an email exchange between Lydia and someone, Lev explains, “We had some idea Ariah was connected to what’s happening because of the packages she’s been receiving and the attempted kidnapping from school.”
He shows the timeline of messages between Lydia and someone she addressed as A.
“The problem we are working on is linking the timing. Did her arrival start this, or was this always in the works? It seems, at least at this moment, it was planned,” he finishes, turning his gaze from the screen to us at the table.
I knew something about her appearance here didn’t sit right. Lev and I have been saying this all along. The timing was just too coincidental. I want to feel vindicated in this, but she doesn’t appear to be the enemy— more like someone caught in a war not of her making.
“The real question is, did Lydia tell them of her arrival, or did Lydia take this position because she moved here?” Sebastian asks.
“Something I’m looking forward to finding the answer to. Where is the bitch?” Owen shouts, not as interested in the backstory. He wants to peel the answers from her flesh.
“We’re still not sure. We know she didn’t leave with the van because she was seen entering the estate after letting the van out. But with the camera feed on a loop, there’s no telling where and when she actually left,” Lev says.
Clearing his throat, Thomas draws our attention in his direction. “Her house was empty by the time my team arrived. EitherMiss Givensmoved her belongings ahead of tonight’s plan, or she never had anything there. Lev, please pull up the file I just airdropped to you.”
My eyes bulge at what comes on the screen. “What the fuck?” I snap, my head looking back and forth between what I see and Thomas. “I thought you said you didn’t find Lydia?”
Standing, Thomas walks to the screen, “Well, we did and we didn’t,” he says, pointing to the body, or what’s left of it, on the metal slab.
“This is Lydia Givens. The real Lydia Givens. She’s been dead for weeks.”
There on the screen is an identical-looking Lydia, or what’s left of her. Her graying skin shows the level of decay setting in. Her throat slashed.
“Are you telling me Lydia isn’t actually Lydia?”
“It would appear Lydia Givens was murdered weeks ago, and Madeline Rutherford took her place, pretending to be Miss Givens since Ariah’s arrival. We don’t have all the details, but it explains why we had initial issues locating Miss Givens.”
Our fathers will flip their shit when they find out we had a mole.
As if my thoughts summoned them, in walks Mr. Grant, Mr. Washington, Mr. Jefferson, and my father.
My dad steps forward, eyes filled with fury, but his mask is fully set in place. Whatever he’s about to say, he doesn’t want to. With Ariah being taken and the news of the mole, his hand is being forced.
“Boys, with the information we’ve just been given, it’s time we fill you in on a few things.”
3
ARIAH
Athrobbing in my skull slowly wakes me. Damn. What the hell was in that champagne?I thought expensive shit was supposed to hit differently?My eyelids feel like they’re sewn shut.
“Uh-,” I try to croak, but my mouth feels like it’s stuffed full of cotton.
The pulsing in my skull magnifies at my sudden attempt to speak.I’m never trusting rich people alcohol again.
I move to lift my hand, and I’m met with resistance. I tug, and still nothing. The distinct feeling of metal rubs against my skin.What the fuck?
“Oh, I wouldn’t do that if I were you. You wouldn’t want to hurt yourself. You’re strapped in pretty tight,” a voice singsongs.
My neck whips in the direction of the voice as I will my eyes open, but they remain unresponsive.
“Don’t worry, you’ll have bodily autonomy soon enough. Well, you’ll be able to open your eyes at least,” the fucking voice says.
