“Raven, pick up the phone, dammit!” A voice comes from outside the door.
Link?
Atlas left his best friend behind? Strange.
A door slams with more force than necessary, coming from the same floor I’m on. I presume that’s him, getting inside his room.
I should leave this place. But not before I get my hands on whatever’s inside Atlas’s safe. I left it as a dessert. Now I’ll have to devour it fast.
I rush over to the one by his bed and punch in the only three numbers I have from the night of the party. With everything I’ve got on Atlas, it didn’t take a lot to figure out the remaining three numbers I’d heard him punch in. Noah’s birthday.
The safe opening is a small victory I can’t find in me to smile about.
Guns. Stacks of cash. Documents. And my pink panties... the ones I gagged him with?
Weirdo!
I pull out the documents, reading between the lines to figure out what I have. It’s mostly hyped-up sales for the upcoming gallery event next week. I’ve had my hands on similar, going through intermediaries, but these have a few sticky notes telling me who the real buyers are. Big names I’ve heard around Raven’s father. There are code-like letters and numbers on each note. Most of these buyers are on foreign soil. Malta turns up a couple of times. Then Germany, Poland, Switzerland.
Maybe I can use these as a bargaining chip with Trent if my plan goes sideways. Though, I think he would still help me even without it. But better safe than sorry. I’m guessing some of the people in these files would be more than welcome on the FBI desks.
A folder on the side of the safe grabs my attention and I pull itout, careful not to move too much around it.
On the very first page, a name sticks out.
Vanguard Horizon.
That’s Montgomery Global Logistics direct competition. Raven’s dad, Peter Montgomery, used to call them incompetent asses. I’m pretty certain I’ve heard Holt’s name being mentioned years ago around my best friend’s house. Maybe Mason worked with Peter and then he switched to Vanguard Horizon?
I take out my phone, snapping photos of every single piece of paper. I’ll leave the figuring out part of what exactly I have on my hands for later. Now, I need to get out of here. I’ve pushed my luck to its limit.
Getting everything back inside the way it was, I close the safe and head out, satisfied I’m not empty-handed.
When the night comes, I sit on a bench, waiting for Raven, my heart sinking with the thought of how betrayed she must’ve felt to see me there last night, living and breathing when I left her wondering for months if I’m alive. The tear that fell down her eye when she saw me completely shattered me, making me feel like the worst friend possible.
Ten comes and goes. Then ten-thirty. Raven’s never late for anything, and neither am I. She’s making me wait to punish me, which is the least I deserve.
I stand when I notice her silhouette finally approaching, making the shadows the least creepy thing the night can offer.
She lunges at me, squeezing me so tight the air leaves my lungs.
“I should unalive you, so I wouldn’t have mourned you in vain, bitch!”
Is strangling me her choice for “unaliving” me?
It takes seconds for my brain to process her embrace and return it in full.
“How could you do this to me? How could you let me think you were dead? Where’s Milo?”
My brother’s name triggers my tears. And when I stay silent, Raven releases me from her embrace.
“Maeve!”
A gasp escapes her, and in that moment, the emerald of her eyes dims as the realization that it’s just me, sinks in. Her tears are not far behind, before she pulls me in again, unsure if it’s consolation she seeks or offers. Maybe both. Her chest jumps in rapid motions, but she hides the sound of her sobs. She’s fighting it for me. We stay like this for a long moment—minutes of comfort I’ve needed from her for the last ten months.
“When I saw you alive and well...” She chokes on a sob. “I-I thought Milo was too. I—” Her voice cracks. “You said if you ever stopped calling one day... it would mean you’re dead, but... but I could never... never accept it, even when it happened. Even when I hadn’t heard from you in so many months. There was a part of me that always knew you were alive. I thought... if something had happened to you, I would’ve felt it. I know I would’ve. You were always a part of me.” Her entire body trembles more than her voice.
“They are all dead.” It’s all I can choke out.
