Chapter 54
fifty-four
Ducking through the alley, I pull my hoodie high over my head to obscure my face from the cameras. Ava will have Mark scouring CCTV footage for my face. The bag in my hand is heavy, filled to the brim with the supplies I need to make this work.
I can’t risk putting them in harm’s way again.
It is a fluke that Caesar’s trigger phrase hadn’t worked properly.
Something I still don’t understand. The sudden urge to slaughter slid into my mind like a shadow, twisting until all I saw were the walls coated in red.
Then I took a swing at my sister, intending to crush her skull with my hands, but the moment she cried out in pain, the urge to kill dissipated.
Be a good girl, Kenzi.
Fucking bitch. I am going to wrap my fucking hands around her throat and strangle her until her eyes pop out of her fucking head. I am no one’s fucking puppet, and I will make sure it stays that way.
The lock of the hotel room door clicks when I press my key against the sensor. I push my way inside, bypassing the main room in favor of the bathroom.
Shutting the door, I get to work, and by the time I am done, I barely recognize myself.
My long brunette hair is cut short, ending just below my chin in a layered bob, and now a dark emerald green.
I slide a pair of colored lenses into my eyes, turning my blue ones a soft brown.
Mark’s program identifies variables such as hair color and eye color.
It won’t completely fool his system, but it is a start and will give me the time I need to find the woman who calls herself Caesar and hang her by her intestines.
My phone beeps.
Fuck.
Ava is a persistent bitch, and normally I love her for it. Not right now, though. Not when those texts and calls can be traced.
Damn, I miss her so much. I felt like I finally had my life back. Until that one moment that ruined everything. Things were supposed to get better. I am supposed to be free. Now, I am just a ticking time bomb.
A deadly explosion waiting to happen.
The timer on my watch beeps.
Shit, I am going to be late.
I hurry out the door, still making sure to keep my head down and away from the cameras, but I don’t want to appear too suspicious.
I’ve spent years learning how to be a chameleon, but this is different.
Those targets never knew who I was. How I thought and moved.
Mark and Ava do. Caesar too. She is the one who created the program, after all.
Taking the bus out to where Matthias dropped the pin is easier said than done. I end up Ubering it the last few miles. Tipping the driver, I step out of the car, stopping to admire the view. Fuck, that man went all out.
The outside looks Victorian, but the construction looks too new to be truly vintage.
Not that it will matter to Ava. She always wanted the aesthetic without all the issues that go into owning an actual Victorian.
Not to mention that I doubt Matthias would move into a house that couldn’t accommodate his state-of-the-art security system or his fancy coffee machine that no honest Victorian would be able to handle without burning down.
Tucking my chin, I follow the flow of guests toward the front door, slipping around to the back before anyone can notice. The lawn is fucking immaculate. Lucky too, because Ava does not have a green thumb to try and make these garden beds herself.
I find the perfect spot to watch the ceremony, perched on a small bench just far enough away that no one can see me, but not too far that my camera won’t be able to catch the action.
Hopefully, this wedding goes down better than the last.
Sorrow weighs down my heart when I think about Libby.
I try not to think about her too often because the pain in my chest always seems to grow immeasurably when I do.
My sweet Libby. She would be so happy to see Ava getting married in the way she has always dreamed of.
An ivory dress, flowers, and a groom who looks at her as if she is the world.
We had our weddings planned out by the time we were thirteen years old. Our plan was to be each other’s maids of honor. Dad would walk us down the aisle with a smile on his face and give us away to the men of our dreams.
Ugh, if that wasn’t the fakest bullshit on the planet, fuck it all.
Those dreams were squashed like pumpkins the day after Halloween.
Elias wasn’t really my father. My mother is a lying, whoring bitch. Libby is six feet under and not coming back any time soon, and well—who would want to marry someone who is damaged goods and could accidentally kill you at the drop of a wrong word?
Sighing, I set aside the depressive pity-party thoughts in favor of watching my big sister have the moment she deserves. Life had never been fair to her growing up in Elias’s home. I only wish I had known it sooner. Maybe some of the bloodshed and pain could have been stopped.
I sit on the bench for hours, watching the guests mill around. None of them come back here, though. It is late by the time everyone leaves, and I pack up my camera. Ava left me another message earlier before the ceremony. I listened to it like I have all the other ones.
But it is time to stop.
Taking out my new burner phone, I shoot her a quick text, telling her how proud I am of her and that she needs to stop searching. Stop looking. It isn’t worth the risk.
Two seconds later, I get a response, and for the second time in over two and a half years, I cry.
Me
Never. Sisters always stick together. I love you.