Page 52 of The Triangle

The door opens a crack and we walk in.

“Holy fucking shit,” I whisper.

We’ve been to some spectacular places in the time we’ve known Alec. The Cook Islands were just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to fabulous exotic locations. And even though we’re probably only a couple hundred miles away from the city, this whole setup feels just as exotic as that beach off Crete where we used to vacation, or the volcanic island hideaway in Fiji where we lay low once after a major heist.

The entire west side of the house is made of glass and through that glass is the choppy lake, and the low-hanging mist, and the conifer-covered mountains all underneath a thick blanket of threatening storm clouds. It’s so pretty, in such a dark and foreboding way, I just can’t believe it’s real.

We walk down a flight of stairs to a large open living room, sparsely furnished with ultra-modern chairs, a slim, armless couch, and a ten-foot-tall stainless steel sculpture in one corner that looks like an ice cream cone, but probably isn’t.

All three of us end up standing in front of the window, silent for several moments, as we take in the beauty.

“We’re gonna stay here until we figure out what’s happening.”

“I think we all know what’s happening,” Danny says.

“I don’t,” I add.

“We don’t,” Alec says.

“Specifics aren’t necessary. When you’re in my life,” Danny says, looking at Alec, “everything that happens is because you planned it.”

“You’re free to leave any time you want, bru,” Alec snaps. “But Christine is staying with me.”

“Because you’ve done such a great job taking care of her so far, right?”

“Hello?” I say. “I’m right here.”

“Better job than you did,” Alec answers, ignoring me. “You walked away. Left her to fend for herself.”

“OK,” I say, turning to Danny. “Just… can we please just stop this?”

It takes him several long seconds to quit glaring at Alec and finally turn his gaze to me. “He’s got us into some shit again, Christine. You have to know that.”

“How do you know it’s him—”

“It’s always him.”

“—and not me?”

He blinks. “What?”

“I think the two of you have some catching up to do,” Alec says. “So I’m gonna go find the office and see if I can fit all the missing pieces back together.”

He disappears by way of a hallway and then Danny and I are alone.

Danny sighs.

“What?” I ask, a little edge in my voice.

“How much do you remember?’

“All of it, I think. Well, most of it.”

“Do you remember who he sent you to kill?”

I search for that. Partly because the answer is no—I don’t remember this Jimmy Sotoro at all—but also because it feels wrong. Not incredibly wrong, because Alec has sent me to kill people before. But enough that I can’t say for sure that’s how I got here. So I answer, “No.”

“He said something back in the car while you were asleep. He said…” But Danny stops and kinda shake his head.