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“Patricia? Patricia darling, I’m sorry I haven’t been in touch. We’ve been busy scouting locations for my new show.”
Julia felt Joe tense at her side, his attention firmly on the screen.
“I met the new director.” Alice’s smile was wide and terrifyingly manic. “He’s had a lot of experience making TV shows and he’s very powerful within the industry. I’m lucky to be working with him. He’s going to make me a star for sure.”
Her act was fooling no one. She wasn’t even putting any effort into it this time. The whole thing was desperate and a touch hysterical. It filled Julia with a cold sort of dread that seeped into her bones. She felt Joe’s arms wrap around her and his front press against her back, before she even realised he’d moved. She’d been wrong—his touch didn’t destabilise her. It made her stronger. And she needed his strength while she watched helplessly as the terrified Alice tried to be brave.
“The new boss, Mr. Esteban.” Alice’s voice faltered, and Callum cursed under his breath.
Julia felt Joe’s arms flex and realised that Alice knowing her captor’s name wasn’t a good thing.
“Mr. Esteban”—A
lice cleared her throat—“wants to remind you that you need to deliver his mummy.” There was no joke this time. All attempts to play a part had vanished.
Alice’s eyes kept straying off camera, and she visibly paled.
“H-he wants you to understand that time is running out.” Suddenly her eyes went wide. “No,” she said. “No.” She backed away from the camera.
Julia stopped breathing. Joe’s hold tightened.
Arms appeared out of the darkness behind Alice. A man with a mask. He held her upper arms and jerked her back into a chair.
“No! No! I did what you wanted. I told her.” She looked at the camera, frantic now, tears streaming down her face. “I told you, Patricia. You heard me, I know you did. I told you.” She started shaking her head frantically.
Julia curled her hands around Joe’s arm and held on tight. The world stopped. Tilted. She became disorientated as she tried to make sense of what she was seeing.
“What are they doing?” Patricia was panicked. “What are they doing to her?”
Julia watched in horror as they strapped Alice’s wrists to the arms of the chair. Alice was crying hysterically now, shouting nonsense, kicking her legs out. Struggling. Another man appeared in the frame and fastened her ankles to the legs of the chair.
The man behind Alice grabbed a handful of her hair and tugged her head back until she screamed. Julia recoiled, her nails digging into Joe’s arm. Inside, she was screaming along with Alice. The masked man held Alice’s head by her hair. The other man was holding her knees. A third masked man appeared on the left. He held something in his hand.
Julia saw a glint a millisecond before he used the object in his hand.
Garden shears.
There was no hesitation when he grabbed hold of Alice’s hand and clipped off the small finger.
“Fuck!” Joe roared as Alice’s blood-curdling scream filled the room.
Julia’s knees gave out. She couldn’t rip her eyes from the horror on the screen. Joe spun her, blocking her view with his body, but he couldn’t stop her from hearing Alice’s agonised sobs. Or the words of the man who spoke when Alice fell deathly silent.
“For every day we do not have the mummy, we will remove a body part. How much of your friend we return is up to you. I will contact you tomorrow.”
Julia was shaking so badly that she couldn’t stay upright. There was a commotion in the room. Noise. Voices. Shouting. All Julia saw was the blood. Red and pouring from Alice’s hand. Blood. So much blood. Her ears rang with Alice’s scream of shock and pain.
Her finger. Oh Lord. Her finger.
“Tea,” Joe barked, and Julia felt herself being lifted.
Next thing she knew, she was sitting on Joe’s lap on the sofa. She was shaking hard. No—the thought penetrated the grim loop in her mind—not shaking, shivering. Just as she realised that was what she was doing, someone placed a blanket over her and Joe tucked it around them.
“This is my fault. I did this.” Julia rocked against Joe. “We should have handed over the mummy as soon as we found it. Alice would have been fine if we’d given him the mummy.”
“Shh, baby.”
She barely registered the words. “I thought I was so smart. Find the treasure; hand that over instead. I wasn’t smart. I was arrogant. This is my fault. I hurt Alice.”
