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“I’ll kill him,” I say. “I’ll murder Zacharov.”
Shock distorts her features. “Cassel?” she says, fear in her voice.
“We’re getting out of here.” I come around to the side of the bed, ready to help her up. My eyes search the room for a weapon, any weapon. There’s a heavy-looking brass cross over the bed. It’s primitive-looking, with jagged sides.
“No,” she says. “You don’t understand. Calm down, sweetheart.”
“You’re kidding, right?”
The door opens and Lila’s standing there, looking almost afraid. She pushes past me and gives my mother a quick glare.
“I’m sorry,” she says, turning back to me. “I would have told you, but your mother made us promise not to. And she’s okay. If she wasn’t okay, I would have told you. No matter what. Honest, Cassel.”
I look between them. It’s hard to even imagine them being in the same room together. Maybe Lila’s the one who shot her.
“Come here, baby,” my mother says. “Sit on the bed.”
I do. Lila stands by the wall.
“Ivan has been very good to me. This past Sunday he said I could go to church, so long as I went with some of his people. Isn’t that nice?”
“You got shot in church?” I wonder which particular religion she’s claiming to belong to, but I keep that question to myself.
“On the way back. If it wasn’t for dear Lars, that would have been it. The car pulled up and I didn’t even see it, but he did. I guess that’s what he does, as a bodyguard and all. He pushed me and I fell, which made me mad when it was happening, but he saved my life. The first bullet hit me in the shoulder, but the rest missed and the car went screeching off.” She sounds like she’s reciting the plot of a particularly exciting episode of a soap opera, not telling me about something that actually happened to her.
“You think they were gunning for you? As in, you specifically? It wasn’t some enemy of—” I glance at Lila. “You don’t think it was a misunderstanding?”
“They had government plates,” my mother says. “I didn’t notice, but you can bet that Lars did. Amazing instincts.”
Government plates. Patton. No wonder Zacharov was livid.
“Why didn’t you call me right away? Or Barron? Either one of us. Or Grandad, for hell’s sake. Mom, you’re hurt.”
She tilts her head and smiles at Lila. “Could you give the two of us a couple minutes alone?”
“Yeah,” Lila says. “Of course.” She heads out the door, closing it behind her.
Mom reaches out and pulls my face close to hers. She’s not wearing gloves, and her bare nails sink into the skin of my throat. “What the hell have you boys been up to? Messing around with federal agents?” she hisses, low and vicious.
I push away, my neck stinging.
“I raised you better than this,” she says. “Smarter. You know what they’ll do to you if they find out what you are? They’ll use you to hurt other workers. They’ll use you. Against your grandfather. Against everyone you love. And Barron—that boy thinks he can wriggle out of anything, but if you got him into this, he’s in over his head. The government put us in camps. And they’ll do it again if they figure out a legal way to manage it.”
I am left with the uncomfortable echo of Lila’s words about Daneca being too smart to get involved with Barron. I guess we’re all smart about some things and dumb about others. But the federal government isn’t just some bad boyfriend. If Mom knew what they wanted me to do, I think she’d have a different opinion of them. If anything, looking at her, pale and furious in her pile of blankets, I am more committed than ever to getting rid of Patton.
“Barron can take care of himself.”
“You’re not denying it,” she says.
“What’s wrong with wanting to do something good with my life?”
She laughs. “You wouldn’t know good if it bit you on the ass.”
I look at the door. “Does Lila—does she know?”
“No one knows,” Mom says. “They suspect. That’s why I didn’t want you to hear about my little accident. I didn’t want you coming here—you or your brother. It’s not safe. There was a boy who described you in connection with some agents.”
“Fine,” I say. “I’m going now. I’m glad you’re okay. Oh, and I went to the jewelry store. It was a dead end, but I did learn one thing. Dad had two forgeries made. And by the way, it would have really helped if you’d mentioned that he was the one who met with Bob.”
