Page 52 of Breached

“Why would she lie and say that about her dad bringing her here every year?”

Keith’s arms dropped heavily to his thighs as I processed what that could mean. Then he pulled out a quarter and dropped it between the seat and the door. I glanced over and saw his eyes close. His face was grim. “Paul?”

“Yeah?”

“Pull over.”

I slowed and pulled over, but before I came to a complete stop, he jumped out, bent down, and looked under the seat.

He had gone completely still—the change was instant—like something inside him just stopped. The color drained from his face, and his expression went hollow. “I just figured it out.”

THIRTEEN

NICOLE

The water felt amazing as I scrubbed away the grime from the day, including the sticky jam finger smears from Chase. They were cute, but gross. I stepped out, dried off, and slipped into my nightgown, ready for an early bedtime. I had decided to skip dinner, as I needed some alone time. I wasn’t ready to mingle with the others yet. I still felt like an outsider, and whenever I thought about all their lies, it hurt.

I was rational enough to see the writing on the wall, however, and the more I thought about it, the more I understood the type of secret they had kept under lock and key was nothing less than a web of complicated stories, and it had affected everyone at the house in different ways. I understood the pain it must have brought them all when they thought they had lost Paul all those years ago. Paul.

The deep hurt I felt that our relationship had come to such a point without him telling me wasn’t fair, and the sting of how it made me look stupid for far too long was hard to get past. I sighed deeply and tried for the hundredth time to see it from Paul’s point of view. That he had struggled with telling me, I had no doubt. I just couldn’t get past that he hadn’t trusted me enough to tell me.

Using the small squeegee, I cleared the glass and finger-combed my hair. I turned on the dryer, and the white noise made my head spin out, and tears welled to the surface. I mentally kicked myself in the ass. I was better at protecting myself than this. Why did I feel like I was crashing?

I pressed my hands against the counter and stared at myself in the mirror, about to give myself a pep talk, when the entire room erupted in blue flashing lights.

“Code Blue! Code Blue! Code Blue!” could be heard through a speaker.

I quickly ran out of the bathroom and saw three blue lights spinning above the door and those two words being screamed at me from everywhere.

Savannah had warned me about the house alerts—blue was a level above red, and red was level one. When the alert sounded, I knew all the adults were to drop whatever they were doing and immediately gather in the main conference room.

I grabbed my robe and flew out the door to find Team Dark Water heading down the hall. When I looked over the railing and down into the entryway, I heard lots of whispering about what was happening as they filed quickly down to the next level.

I looked around, wondering about Chase and if he was frightened by all the sudden noise and activity.

“Don’t overthink it.” Ivy urged me down the stairs. “It’s scary the first time you hear one of these, and it isn’t often, but it’s necessary. The staff and Chase won’t hear this alarm, so don’t worry.”

“Was your first time a code blue?” I asked without thinking.

“No.” She shot me a glance, and I figured I shouldn’t dig.

She, too, was in a robe, only she was smart enough to wear a big, fluffy, warm one and her slippers, while I was in a short silk robe with bare feet. In fairness, it was my first time, and I had just gotten out of the shower.

As we entered the room, I tucked myself just inside the door while everyone took a seat. Cole stood at the head of the table, and Blackstone was seated around it. I didn’t see Paul. I wondered where he was. I sensed an uneasy vibe settle over everyone, but it was Savannah’s pale face and blank expression that made my body go cold. What does she know?

Once everyone was inside, Cole addressed the room.

“As of three hours ago, Keith discovered the identity of the person Bruno planted as the Redstone sleeper.” He didn’t bother with any build-up or pleasantries, just got to the point. Murmurs filled the room as Keith slowly stood and looked around like he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.

“I’m not entirely sure how to start this.” His voice broke, and he cleared his throat. “First, I feel the need to apologize. Since joining this family, I’ve brought in my fair share of trouble, but this one is…” He shook his head. He pointed the remote he held at one of the TVs on the wall and up popped a picture of a map.

“Paul and I ran into Brandon’s teacher and Liza while picking up one of the food truck loads at Zack’s, and a while later, Liza was found here with a flat tire.” He zoomed in on the map. “It seems Brandon’s teacher had told her about Whispering Pine Lookout. Apparently, her father used to take her there every year.”

“No,” Mark spoke up, “she only just moved here this year. That’s a lie.”

“Exactly,” Paul said from behind me. I turned and saw him with his arms crossed as he leaned against the door frame, “and that’s when Keith discovered the truth.”

“It’s when I found this in my pocket.” He switched the map to a photo of a tracker with a lion’s head on it just like the one Paul found on me and the one Olivia found in Easton’s jacket before the explosion at Zack’s. The room went silent as Keith tossed a Faraday bag on the table. “Bruno’s sleeper is Liza.”