Archie and Bill exchange looks. Archie tilts his head and Bill frowns as though they’re having a whole conversation.
My stomach gurgles and I press a hand to it, thinking of the tiny thing growing in me. The thought of mentioning the baby comes and I dismiss it… I will not appeal to them with softness. I will use my strength and cunning and power like Eli and the others would.
“Do you need proof I mean business?” I ask. “Fine.”
I walk to Eli’s corner safe and enter the combination—34, 78, 92—and pull out my ruby necklace, the one Eli put around my neck when I first came to Velvet House.
“Here’s the down payment,” I tell the twins. “Take it.”
Archie stares at the stones, his eyes glittering like a snake’s, and I see longing but also fear. “If your men come out of this alive, they’ll kill us for taking your cash.”
“If my men come out of this alive, I’ll remind them that we saved them, and they’ll have no choice but to appreciate that,” I say, again surprised by how calm I sound.
Archie gives me a rueful smile. “You make a nice point.”
I hold out the necklace. “So, take this, and let’s go to my stepmom’s house.”
“But Mr. Morelli—”
“Is captured,” I remind him. “And if he dies, he won’t be able to be angry about anything, much less rubies.”
Bill shakes his sandy head. “This is a wild goose chase, Kitten. Your men could already be dead, or worse.”
“No,” I say loudly. “Mr. Parker isn’t going to kill anyone until he can convince Doc to help him make Orchard. Are you taking me to New York or not?”
Archie and Bill swap another glance then Bill steps forward and takes the necklace from my hand. “Go get changed into boots and jeans. Lots of layers.”
It takes half an hour to dress, collect supplies, and get on the road. Archie and Bill are all strapped up like we’re going to war and I’m in my special-order fatigues and bulletproof vest, my gun strapped to my leg, just the way Adriano wears his. It might be overkill, but it makes me feel better. Less unprepared.
Archie and Bill abandon the beat-up Corolla they drove to the safe house, and we climb into Doc’s truck. It smells like Eli’s lavender cologne and as I buckle myself into the back seat tears burn in my eyes. I swipe them away, furious with myself for letting the emotions escape.
“Six hours to Manhattan,” Archie says, cranking up the heating.
I turn and watch the safe house shrink in the rear window. Who knows if I’ll ever see it again? If I’ll ever want to.
Please, I pray.Let them be okay. Let me find them, Zia, God, whoever. Please let me save them.
Snow swirls past as Bill slowly makes his way down the mountain, when we hit the main road, Archie looks back at me. “Did Parker really shoot up the Bianchi wedding?”
“I think so. He definitely tried to poison…the guys with Orchard,” I finish, unable to say their names. “When that didn’t work, I think he tried to shoot them, but he only got Bobby in the shoulder.”
Archie stares through me, his mind clearly a million miles away. “Shooting up a mafia wedding,” he says slowly. “I know Parker’s a dumbass but even I can’t believe he’d be that stupid.”
I remember the look in his eyes as he watched Emilia be sick. His manic stare when he came back to talk to me in the safe house. “I don’t think he’s very sane anymore.”
“It doesn’t matter if he’s crazier than a bag of Roadhouse cats,” Bill says quietly. “He’s got enough men and enough firepower to end us a hundred times over. Bianchi too maybe. He’s managed to survive this long.”
We sit in silence, weighing that fact.
But the boys are alive, I tell myself.Doc will help Mr. Parker with Orchard. He’ll keep the others safe until we get there.
Bill’s blue eyes find mine in the mirror. “This could end badly, Kitten. In fact, it probably will. You know that?”
I subtly press a hand to my belly. “Yes. But I need to try. I won’t be able to live with myself otherwise.”
Bill nods. “That’s all we need to know.”
The hours slip by as we race along grey freeways. The pain in my chest and heart increases as I keep a tight grip on the door handle. I trust Archie and Bill, at least not to sell me out but part of me is ready to jump from the car and run. To do whatever I have to survive and find the men I love.
