He tucks the vial into his tuxedo pocket. “We both must leave, yes? Go!” he hisses, and he folds around the backside of the Potter Building.
I am a whirlwind of emotion. I try to tamp down my confusion.
Our meetup spot. Yes. I weave quickly through night to the far corner on Park Place, dodging pools of light and crowds of people pushing toward the scene of the crime.
As I approach the corner near the Woolworth Building, I see William and Nirav. And Pax.
My heart drops—what is he doing here?—then soars—he’s here!It’s a feeling rather like a carnival ride.
I cannot stop myself. I cannot stop my tears. I run to him, throw myself into his embrace. His hug is tight, secure, protective.
“How are you here?” I ask. “Why?” According to our plan,he is supposed to be executing the next stage of our plot, meeting up with the “officers.”
I study his face. All their faces. How are they all smiling?
Pax takes both my hands.Snick.
Everything is okay. I know this, and the information is not from Spirit. It’s from Pax. From his touch, from his gaze. I understand, now. I thought everything had gone so, so wrong, but that is not the case, Pax’s silver eyes tell me.
“Everything is okay,” he whispers, confirming this. He hugs me to his lean chest, warm and firm. This is it. This is where I’ve wanted to be all evening. All my life, maybe. I hug harder. His heartbeat is a balm.
Finally, after his heart has calmed mine, I pull back to look into those magical eyes. “But Kiyoko—”
“She’s okay.”
A sob breaks free. “Yes?”
“Yes.”
“But the window, she broke it, and—”
“Stella, she escaped,” William says. “I saw her leave from the main stairwell door.”
“You saw her?” My head is shaking. My hands are shaking. “That window was eleven stories high!”
William leans closer, takes my hand. “Stella. I saw her. I promise.” He smiles gently. “The chutzpah, that one.”
I droop with relief. Pax adds, “But we’re not sure where she is. And she has the haul. At least, I hope she does. I’m hoping she can meet the connection quickly and join us.”
I step back and lock eyes briefly with Nirav, then William. “Kiyoko? She’s the touch?”
Pax nods.
“That wasn’t the plan.”
“It became the plan.”
“When?”
“Recently.”
“How recently?”
“Very recently.”
The picture of how this played out becomes clear. Kiyoko—that’s who was in the restroom with him. The “other woman.” Him tapping Kiyoko for this task at the last minute, her unable to say no. Why the hell wasn’t I let in on this change of plans? Does he not trust me? Was I stupid, silly, to trust him?
And how can I swing so wildly from love to anger?
