“But you don’t know where I am,” I say frantically. “We’re near a town called Staybrooke, but that’s like an hour away. We’re in the forest and—”
“That’s not a problem,” Bill says. His voice is slightly deeper and slower than Archie’s.
“I can get into Parker’s system. I can see his helicopter landed in the state forest two hours ago and—”
“Yes,” I practically scream. “That’s where we are!”
“Then stay put,” Bill says firmly. “Lock the doors and stay put. We’ll be with you in ten hours. Less if we’re lucky.”
“Thank you,” I babble. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
“Don’t thank us,” Archie says. “This has been a long time coming, Kitten.”
And before I can ask what he means, the line disconnects.
The hours pass in painful slowness. I try to sleep, try to eat, and I can’t manage either. So, I focus on singing, just like I did when I was alone in the Velvet House basement. I sing every song that comes to mind. I sing until my voice gives out, but I keep going because whenever I stop, I see Mr. Parker and his gun. The photo of Doc, Bobby, and Adriano in the snow. Emilia throwing up.
Finally, when my vocal cords have nothing left to give and I’m forced into silence, I curl up on the couch with Bobby’s patchwork blanket. I imagine what’s happening to my men. The fathers of my child. My husbands. Because that’s what they are. My heart begins to pulse so hard it hurts. It would be so easy to slip into panic, to run out into the snow screaming and pleading for Eli to come back but I can’t allow that to happen. If I’m going to be any use to the twins and to the men I love, I need to be brave.
Although I’ve never felt less tired, I must have fallen asleep because I wake to the sound of glass breaking.
My whole body goes stiff with panic, freezing me solid until I hear a voice. “It’s us, Kitten. Bill and Archie.”
I stand, the blanket falling to the floor. “I’m here! I’m coming!”
I love my husbands like no one else, but the sight of the Baskerville twins, handsome and identical in their bulletproof vests, brings tears to my eyes. “You guys! You came!”
“Of course, we did,” Archie says, pulling me into a one-armed hug. “How are you?”
I can’t think of an answer, so I just hug him and then Bill, avoiding the guns shoved strapped to their sides. Bill releases me quickly. “What’s the plan?”
I gape at them. “I thought you… Do you know where Mr. Parker is?”
Bill shakes his head. “He’s closed ranks. In the time we were getting here, everyone’s been locked out of his system.”
My heart falls to my shoes. “So, what do we do? Do we go to my stepmom’s house?”
Bill and Archie exchange looks. “Is that…? Do you wanna go home?” Archie asks.
“No, but Mr. Parker was there. She’ll know where he is. She must.”
Bill nods slowly. “It’s something.”
“It’s nothing,” Archie says. “It’s a Nancy Drew conspiracy from some teenage piece of ass—no offense, sweetheart.”
I glare at him. “Offense taken. I’ve been living at Velvet House for a year. I know about this stuff. Maybe not as well as you and Bill but since you don’t have any ideas, we’ll do my one.”
“New York is six hours away,” Archie says.
“So? Why did you come here if it wasn’t to help me save the guys?”
“To protect you,” Bill says simply. “We saved you in that limo, Kitten. We don’t want you to die out here on your own.”
“But I don’t want my men to die,” I shout back. “You have to help me find them.”
Archie laughs, though his eyes are cold. “We don’t work for free, Kitten. Especially when it’s a suicide mission. Which this is.”
“Fine.” I put my hands on my hips. “If you help me onmy suicide mission, I will give you everything in my bank account which is five million dollars.”
