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“There’s nothing in there,” I exclaim in disbelief.
“What?” Everett comes up behind me to look. He’s so close and his citrusy cologne smells like it’s mixed with sheer masculinity, but it’s probably just Everett’s sweat. Unfairly delicious.
“There’s nothing,” I repeat.
I back away from Everett as he fishes out his phone and taps around. The open safe looks like it’s yawning, empty and taunting me.
“What’s going on?” I ask. “There’s supposed to be something there. Why isn’t there something there?”
“If I knew, I would tell you,” Everett says under his breath. He’s paying close attention to his phone and the closet is growing smaller and more suffocating the longer he stares at his screen.
“Why is this going wrong from the get-go?” Fear of failure is wrapping around my heart in a tight spiral. “What if Dad was delusional? What if he never comes back?”
“Easy, Laina, it’s okay.”
“No, it’s not. This isn’t okay. I’m failing already.”
“Listen to me, Laina,” Everett looks up from his phone, straight into my eyes. “You followed instructions perfectly. You are not failing. Trust me, you’re okay.”
He waits for me to nod and exhale before he looks back to his phone.
“Can we go out and get coffee or go for a run or something?” I ask. “I need some fresh air.”
“We can’t really afford to go traipsing around the city right now,” Everett says.
“What if we’re disguised?”
“You can’t be that disguised with what we have on hand.”
“You don’t have like a magical costume-mask-creator thing or something?” I ask.
He narrows his eyes at me. “Are you sure you’ve never seen Mission Impossible?”
“Positive.”
“Okay, I’ve got something,” he says, looking back at his phone. “I think removing the false bottom wasn’t to get something, it was to activate something. Lifting the bottom turned on a beacon.”
“A beacon? What for?”
“I’m assuming that’s how someone’s going to get in touch with you. I asked Black Swan for cyber support and they just let me know there’s a signal coming from the house.”
“Oh. The next step is wait for instructions,” I admit. “I just thought there would be something there.”
Everett shakes his head and slides his phone in the pocket of his slacks.
“I don’t think the beacon is secure, unfortunately. Anyone can see it. You’re right, this closet is getting stuffy,” he says, and I can pick up a hint of stress in his voice.
I lead the way to exit the closet, only to hear Everett’s low voice by my ear.
“I’m going to sleep with you tonight.”
CHAPTER 9
I wheel around and firmly brace myself inside the doorframe, blocking Everett’s path.
“No.”
“Yes,” he retorts, like there shouldn’t be any argument.
