“Okay.” Maizie nodded, then went to Raquel’s body, searching her for the cell phone. “This?” She held up a device. “It’s shattered.”
“Can you find him? We have to get him back before Wallace kills him. If she doesn’t check in—” Eliana’s voice cracked.
“Let’s get to my laptop.” Maizie winced, but she came over and swung Eliana’s arm over her shoulders. Which only worked because Eliana was several inches taller.
They moved past where two officers had Patience in cuffs. The older woman swore a blue streak as they marched her to the elevator with blood smears all over it. Maizie led Eliana to the side door down the hall, where the stairs were.
“This is how you got down here?” Eliana asked.
“I followed you. But only after I knew Sylvia had everything in hand.” Maizie didn’t sound okay. It sounded like something had happened. Something bad.
At the door, Eliana stopped and turned to Maizie. “Tell me what’s going on.”
“You’re okay. That’s what matters.” Maizie’s expression softened. “We’ll find Carlos. Wewill.”
She recalled what Tony had told her.
I can’t make promises I won’t be able to keep.
“Carolena was strapped with a bomb, and it went off,” Eliana said. “That’s not my definition of okay. I just killed a womanback there.” She waved her arm in that direction, wanting to continue.
But something held her tongue.
She’d killed the connection for the Board of Governors, but what did that mean? Anyone could walk in or out of the vault right now. The Shrine probably wanted it secured, but Eliana had more important things to do than protect its secrets. Or let anyone know she was the only one who could now control the Board of Governors system.
Assuming she hadn’t destroyed it.
Maizie grabbed her hand. “Come on.” They set off up the stairs. “It’s chaos up here. The bomb blew, and it wasn’t a huge explosion, but it caught a lot of people. Including Lydia. She isn’t dead, but she’s in critical condition. Sylvia is up here coordinating EMS, helping people. I came down to help you.”
“Patience…” Eliana didn’t even know what to say. “I can’t believe it.”
Maizie slowed on the stairs to match Eliana’s pace. “What about Raquel?”
“She was working for Lydia. The speech was a distraction. Raquel wanted to give Lydia authorization to control the Board of Governors.”
“From inside the vault?”
Eliana nodded, but she wasn’t going to explain right now. Maybe later. First, she wanted to talk with Sylvia. Make sure that Tony would be all right. He had to have lost a lot of blood. “Patience came down to do the same, and they ended up at odds over it. Tony was caught in the middle. I did what I had to do to resolve the situation.”
Maizie shuddered. “She would’ve killed you to get what she wanted.”
Eliana had been referring to severing the wires with her knife, but that probably wasn’t what the Board of Governors hadintended when they gave her that blade. Stabbing Raquel hadn’t been intentional, but she’d still taken the other woman’s life.
They pushed through onto the ground floor, walking into the lobby. Half the ceiling hung down, and smoke filled the air. The gala had been destroyed, and mixed with the white linens Eliana spotted the ash and the blood of the casualties from the explosion.
Cops and firefighters in their uniforms worked through the wreckage, overturning tables and helping people out.
Sylvia rushed over to them, a smudge of ash on her cheek. To Eliana’s surprise, she came over and gave her a hug. “I’m so glad you’re all right.”
“Thanks. Tony is going to be okay?”
Sylvia gave her another squeeze. “Thanks to you.” Relief flashed on her face. “You have no idea how much we owe to you.”
“I want to talk, but we need to go and find Carlos before something happens to him.”
“Of course.” Sylvia nodded.
“But I want to know why the system didn’t kill Raquel when she entered.”
