Chapter 24
Chapter Twenty-Four
Eliana tried to breathe behind the gag, her hands secured behind the chair. Across from her, Faith had tears in her eyes. Eliana felt like she was suffocating, but that was the least of her problems right now.
Sarah strode back over to the two guys. One was on a laptop with Eliana’s phone on the counter next to him. The other stood guard.
Eliana couldn’t best all three of them, pretty certain that the gun Sarah held wasn’t the only one in this apartment. She didn’t have her knife—and right now she could’ve used it. At least before she got shot for trying. How was she going to get her and Faith out of this?
Sarah put one hand on her hip. “Why is this taking so long?”
Laptop Guy said, “It’s the security permissions on her phone, but I’m through them and now I’m transferring the files, okay? It’s working, but I can’t make it go any faster.”
Both guys wore slacks, black shoes, and white shirts. They looked like the kind of religious types who knocked on someone’s door. Which was a scary thought, considering who they were actually turning out to be—and it wasn’t honest people with good intentions.
The more muscular guy watched her and Faith while Sarah paced around, her dark hair shifting over her shoulders. The nightgown, with a coat over it. She wore flat shoes that had to be uncomfortable with no socks. She certainly looked the part. Enough that Eliana had fallen for the ruse completely.
Eliana needed the gag off her mouth so she could at least try to talk her way out of this. She tried to nudge it with her shoulder, pushed at it with her tongue. Worked at it. Ignored the guy looking at her, and the taste in her mouth.
She needed this thing off.
Finally, she got the gag off her chin, where it fell to hang around her neck. “Sarah.” Her voice sounded hoarse. “Sarah!”
Muscle Guy spoke up. “We should just kill them right now. Give me the gun.”
“Shut it.” Sarah spun and wandered over, dismissing his suggestion. She was clearly the one in charge, which was interesting. “We can’t kill them until after the files transfer. Someone will hear the shots and come running, and it’ll be us they find. Not the scene we’re going to stage.”
Eliana chewed on the fact that this woman, who would usually be subservient to men in a fringe religious order, seemed to be in charge. The two men deferred to her, whether they liked it or not. Interesting. She didn’t know how it would help her get out of this situation, though.
Eliana tried to figure out where to start and what she could say that would actually work. “You think the police are going to believe this is a murder-suicide? We’ll both have ligature marks on our wrists.”
“Maybe you like it kinky.” Sarah snorted. “The police will believe what I give them to believe. Don’t worry about me. I’ll live a long and fruitful life while you’re rotting in a grave, and everyone you know is crying, crying, crying.”
Eliana couldn’t look at Faith, or she would lose her nerve. “That’s what this is? Are you living a fruitful life? Seems more like you’re here to clean up the Mother’s loose ends.”
Sarah leveled the gun at Eliana’s face. “Don’t you say her name.”
“I don’t think they’ll believe it’s suicide if I caught a bullet to the face.
” Eliana tried to swallow, but her mouth was dry.
She shifted on the seat, turning to the side.
The inside of her elbows caught the sides of the chair, so she unhooked her arms from the back and sat sideways, facing Sarah, with her arms still tied behind her.
Sarah lowered the gun, chuckling. “You think they won’t believe Faith shot you? I won’t need to convince anyone. It’ll be obvious that’s what happened.”
“Guess you should get it over with before the bruising around my wrists sets in.” Eliana lifted her chin.
Muscle Guy looked like he wanted to grab the gun and start shooting everyone. Over by the counter, the other guy typed furiously on the keyboard. Her phone started to vibrate across the counter, and he swore. “She’s getting a call. I’ll have to start again.”
The distant sound of sirens split the air outside.
None of them reacted to it, as if they assumed it was commonplace in the city. It was, but to Eliana the sound of police at work always meant someone coming to her rescue. She would never be left to fend for herself or without backup. After all, that was the family she’d been born into.
Even if she was miles from anyone she was related to, she knew they would never leave her to face danger.
Like it had been with Tony in the vault.
He’d turned from aggressor to aide as soon as he regained his senses, and she knew his true self had been in there the whole time.
After all, he’d protected her in the vault, telling her to hide right before the shooting started.
“Maybe you should answer it,” Eliana said. “Could be informative.”
She had no idea who was calling, but if the police were on their way here for her, they could presumably get a more precise location from a connected call.
Usually, that wouldn’t work with her phone, but if Laptop Guy had reset the security permissions, the GPS locator would’ve been turned on and the device could be traced.
Did that mean the sirens were for her?
Sarah smirked, then glanced at Laptop Guy. “Get those files transferred.”
The sirens outside, somewhere nearby, stopped.
Eliana didn’t let her hope dissipate. She needed it.
She glanced at Muscle Guy. “Are you just the muscle, here to make sure Sarah does what she’s supposed to? Or do you report back to the Mother that she didn’t completely follow orders?”
His expression hardened. “Shut your mouth.”
“Or you’ll shoot me? It’s gonna look suspicious that Faith doesn’t have any gunshot residue on her clothes or her face, so you might want to rethink that plan.”
Behind her back, Eliana worked her wrists back and forth, the movement small enough that she hoped none of them noticed her trying to get out of the ties they’d put around her wrists. “Your plan is breaking down. And when it fails, what then? The Mother will treat the three of you as loose ends.”
Muscle Guy looked at Sarah, then back at her. “I guess we don’t fail then.”
“There’s no way to stage a crime scene and not leave at least some suspicion that it’s not the truth. The only way it looks like a murder-suicide is if that’s what it is.”
Faith shifted in her seat. “Give me the gun. I’ll do it.”
Eliana whipped around too fast and nearly showed them her hands. “They can’t make this work. Don’t play into it. You’ll make it easy for them to win.”
“They’re going to kill us either way.” The lines around Faith’s eyes seemed more pronounced, revealing stress and emphasizing her age.
“That’s why we can’t make it easy for them,” Eliana said. “There has to be justice.”
She needed the other woman to keep some semblance of hope. Maybe not that they would survive this situation, but definitely that Sarah and her friends wouldn’t get away with it.
Eliana turned to Sarah. “Carlos isn’t going to believe it.
He was there when I spoke with Faith. He’ll never believe we’ve been talking to each other, or that either of us is suicidal.
This won’t work. The Mother doesn’t know me well enough to convince anyone that I took a life or let someone kill me. ”
Eliana had to keep the momentum going, so she said, “Why don’t you tell her what I said? See what she has to say. I’m thinking she’s not as infallible as you believe.”
Muscle Guy shifted his weight. “Maybe we should call her. This is taking longer than you said.”
Sarah swung around and pistol-whipped him with the butt of her gun.
The guy dropped in a heap on the floor with a dull thud.
“What did you do that for?!” Laptop Guy stepped back.
Sarah pointed the gun at him.
He lifted his hands. “You can’t shoot me or knock me out. I’m the one who has to transfer the files.” He tipped his head at the laptop.
Sarah went and looked at the display. “Seems to me that as soon as the transfer is done, I’m clear. No matter where you are at the time. Or what condition you’re in.”
“That wasn’t part of the plan.” He spoke through gritted teeth.
“You don’t make the plan.” She motioned to herself with the gun. “I do.”
Eliana wanted to rush over and slam into Sarah’s back to knock her over. Send the gun flying. But her hands wouldn’t come free of these ties, no matter how hard she worked her wrists back and forth.
Then Sarah turned to her, and she knew she’d lost her shot at catching the other woman by surprise.
How could that even have worked? Eliana had no idea what she was doing. She’d never been in a situation like this before, and even if her family tried hard to prepare her, it still didn’t beat experience. She couldn’t remember anything Zeyla had ever told her enough to actually use the information.
Laptop Guy said, “Just call the Mother and ask her what to do.”
“Give me the gun,” Faith cried out. “I’ll kill her.”
Sarah spun to her. “And then you’ll kill yourself?”
Eliana bit her lip, and before Faith could answer that, she said, “How can you risk it, Faith? She could kill you.” She stared Sarah down, trying to keep the focus on her rather than on Faith’s attempt to get out of this situation.
“You’re going to get us both killed!” Faith screamed. “She’s going to kill us all!”
Eliana shot the other woman a look and saw the crazed expression in Faith’s eyes. She was past freaked out, barreling right into out of her mind with fear.
“I know it seems bad, Faith. I know, trust me.” She’d felt the same way with Tony losing control, and those people trying to get in the vault, and seeing one get vaporized. “But we can’t give in to fear”—Eliana raised her voice—“or to people trying to terrorize us.”
She looked at Sarah. “Your DNA will be all over this crime scene. Even now you’re leaving your cells in places you have no idea exist. There’s no way you won’t be identified, even if you stage the scene perfectly.”
“Shut up!” Faith screamed.
“What do you think the Mother is going to do when you have a whole police department coming after you for the truth about what happened to me? Not to mention private contractors and private investigators.” Eliana watched Sarah’s expression, trying to gauge if she was getting through to her.
“She isn’t going to protect you. You’re expendable to her. ”
Sarah’s throat worked, but she said nothing.
“Who will it be?” Eliana pressed. “Who will she send to kill you?”
Faith whimpered, still sitting in her chair thankfully. Eliana had this whole situation on a knife’s edge.
“You know,” Sarah began, “when I said it was time to figure out what you’re made of, I didn’t think it would be this.”
“Sorry to disappoint.”
“Don’t get me wrong.” Sarah shrugged. “I wasn’t looking forward to fighting you. That wouldn’t have lasted long anyway. Three against one.” She motioned to the two men, one still unconscious on the floor. “But I figured you’d try brute force first.”
Eliana lifted her chin. “You don’t know anything about me.”
“I guess I get to be surprised.” Sarah smiled, but there was no amusement in her eyes. Nothing but her own sick satisfaction. “And your friend Luci understands what happens to traitors.”
“Don’t you dare hurt Luci. Just let her go.”
Sarah lifted her chin. “She isn’t a captive. She’s a Sister.”
Eliana’s stomach clenched. “Why does the Mother want me dead? Why send you and go to all this trouble? She’s putting you at risk of being charged with a double homicide.
That’s life in prison. I’d like to know why I have to die, why—” Her breath caught in her throat.
She swallowed and tried not to give in to the panic clawing at the surface.
“I guess you’re the leverage she wants off the table.”
Faith whimpered again, and Laptop Guy hammered the keys for a few seconds.
“Someone wants me alive, so she’s going to have me killed to get rid of me?” Eliana had no idea what that meant, or what she was supposed to do with it. “Explain to me what this is, huh? Who has leverage against the Mother, and what are they bargaining over?”
Sarah shrugged. “You’ll be dead. What do you care?”
“This is my life.” Eliana stood up, wanting to be on her feet to face her death. “I get to know who is trying to control if I live or die.”
Sarah sneered at her. “You don’t have time for that.” She lifted the gun and pointed it at Faith. “Say goodbye.”
“No!” Eliana ran at Sarah with her hands still tied behind her back. Nothing much she could do except use her body weight to stop Faith from being killed. She slammed into the other woman, and they both hit the edge of the counter.
Sarah cried out.
And the gun went off.