Page 113 of A Wild Darkness

“It’s Hayden. You two need to get out of there soon. Our guys spotted one of the killers is leaving already.”

“It’s five a.m.”

“Yeah, but unless you want to have a conversation about how they were drugged and you weren’t, or about what the night was like, or why Larry and Pete haven’t returned to their rooms yet…shall I go on?”

“No, you’re right. We need to keep them in the dark as long as we can, because we still have more to take out,” I say, glancing at Stevie. She’s lying in the bed with her hair fanned out behind her, waiting patiently for me. But it’s going to have to wait until we get back to Seattle.

“I’ll send the same car service to pick you guys up. I doubt it’ll be more than twenty minutes, he knew to be on standby this morning,” Hayden tells me.

“Got it.” Then I end the call and turn to Stevie. “We’ve got to go.”

“Now?”

“Yes.”

She sits up. “Is everything all right?”

I grab my pants and shirt from the suitcase and get dressed. “That was Hayden. He told me some members have already checked out. And it’s not a good idea for us to be here.” Then I pause. “For obvious reasons.”

“Okay.” She nods vigorously. “I can be ready to go in a couple of minutes.”

Stevie scrambles to get her clothes on while I quickly search the room for any loose belongings. There isn’t much. We kept most of our stuff in the luggage in case we needed a speedy getaway.

Only a few minutes later, we’re both ready to leave. I give Hayden a quick call to make sure our driver is at the front before we leave the room.

He answers on the first ring. “Hey, he’s there.”

“Okay, leaving now,” I tell him, then I slide the phone into my pocket and grab Stevie’s hand. “Ready?”

“Yeah. Let’s get the hell out of here.”

I open the door to the room, and to my surprise, Clara is standing in the hallway.

“Checking out?” she asks.

I step slightly in front of Stevie, but keep her hand in mine. “We are.”

“I hope you had a wonderful time at the chateau. We enjoyed having you.” Her voice is annoyingly monotone. Like a steady engine that won’t turn over.

“It was lovely, but we are eager to get back.” I move past her.

“Oh!” Clara raises her tone only to get our attention. “Your host wanted me to give this to you.” She hands me a sealed envelope.

I take it. “Thank you. And please extend our gratitude to Silas for a wonderful weekend.”

“Of course.” She smiles one last time before turning on her heels and heading back down the hallway.

“Shit, she’s creepy,” Stevie comments under her breath, loud enough for me to hear.

“Yeah.” I shove the note into my pocket and lead Stevie down the grand hallway, through the lobby and out to the front of the chateau. “We’ll read it on the plane.”

“Okay.”

We approach the black town car parked on the side of the circular driveway with the same driver from when we arrived two days ago.

“Hope you two enjoyed your stay.” He steps out to greet us, then bends to take our luggage. “Let me grab those for you.”

I open the passenger door for Stevie, then climb in on the other side.