“You fuckers seriously faked your death?” Piper demands.
Victoria rolls her eyes and thrusts her hands in our direction, the gesture eloquently screaming,OBVIOUSLY!
“We can’t let them leave.” Raymond slides his gray-blue eyes—so much like his niece’s—in our direction. “They know you’re alive.”
Ryker’s scowl deepens. “I didn’t realize you were a kidnapper as well as a liar.”
Raymond scratches at the nape of his neck distractedly. He doesn’t even seem to be paying attention to the conversation. I can practically see the wheels in his mind churning as he struggles to come up with a plan of action.
“Kidnap?” Jane’s eyes bulge beneath her wire-framed glasses. She begins to twirl her hair faster and faster around her finger. “You’re joking, right?”
“Right,” I assure her at the same time Ryker deadpans, “No.”
I shoot my brother a frosty look, but he shrugs, unrepentant.
I pinch the bridge of my nose.
Obviously, their arrival here poses a huge problem for not only me and Ryker, but Ellie and the others as well. If Aria ever discovers that we lied to her…
A shudder reverberates through my body at the thought.
In some ways, Raymond’s right. We can’t allow Piper, Jane, and Victoria to leave. If they do, there’s a chance they’ll blow everything we’ve been working toward. Maybe not intentionally, but all it takes is a whisper here, a rumor there.
No one can know Ryker and I are alive.
And they certainly can’t know where we’re holed up.
“I need to think.” Raymond seems to be speaking more to himself than anyone else. He scratches again at his neck, his fingers gliding to his jawline, which has begun to darken with the hints of a scruffy beard. It doesn’t appear as if he shaved recently. I wonder if it’s because he’s been so preoccupied with his work with the FBI…
Or if he’s drowning in guilt for his part in Ellie’s capture.
And yes, I refuse to think of what happened to Ellie as anything other than a “capture.” She didn’t go willingly, despite the deal she made with Aria. She was coerced and forced to participate in this sham. She’s nothing but a prisoner, and while Raymond may not be the only one involved, he certainly helped influence her decision.
Dammit, I need to blame someone, and he’s the easiest one to take my anger out on.
“Look, we didn’t come here to cause more issues for you guys,” Piper begins, keeping her voice soft and almost placating. Her vibrant eyes flick from face to face, searching for an ally. “It’s obvious that you all are in deep shit.”
“Someone needs to tell us what the fuck is going on here,” Victoria snaps, scowling. When Piper gives her a chastising look, Victoria shrugs a slender shoulder and says, “We deserve answers,non?” Her French accent turns even more pronounced in tandem with her growing anger.
“Are you a part of the mafia?” Piper narrows her eyes suspiciously.
“Piper!” Jane squeaks. “You can’t just go around asking people if they’re in the mafia.”
Piper ignores her friend and keeps her steady gaze on me. “Are you?”
My lips twitch, despite my foul mood. I’ve always liked Piper. “No.”
“Then, what is this?” Piper continues, waving a hand to indicate the half-constructed hotel we’ve been cooped up in for the past few months. “Where’s Ellie?”
“Look.” Raymond pivots on his heel to face us, his features pinched. “There’s a lot we can’t tell you, and for good reason.” He expertly slides a hand into his jacket pocket and procures his FBI badge. “My name is Raymond, and I’m an FBI agent.”
“Is that badge even real?” Ryker murmurs, but his voice is too low for the girls to hear.
Jane swallows audibly. “A…um…errr…huh?”
“The boys here are key witnesses to a crime,” Raymond continues, and I have to hold in my snort at that gross understatement.
A crime.