“For every single woman he’s kidnapped and murdered over the last two years? I don’t care how well he pays his servants or his guards. Someone would have a conscience. Someone would have cracked and talked by now. At the very least, someone would have tried to blackmail him for more money to keep quiet.” Bria shook her head, making her blond ponytail swing from side to side. “Something about this just doesn’t feel right. We’re missing something about this whole thing. Something big.”
She was voicing the same concerns and questions that I’d asked myself a dozen times over the past two hours, ever since we’d begun focusing in on Rivera. But we were here, and it was too late to turn back now. I wasn’t going to turn back now. I couldn’t. Not until we found Elissa. And if we had to search every single square inch of the mansion, then so be it. I’d promised Jade that I would do everything in my power to find her sister, and I was going to live up to that. Keeping your word was another part of his code that Fletcher had drilled into me, and I wouldn’t be able to look at myself in the mirror otherwise.
“We think that Elissa is in the mansion,” Owen said, lowering his binoculars. “But what are we going to do if she’s not?”
I flashed my knife at him. “Then we’ll grab Rivera, and I’ll cut the answers out of him. He might be a serial killer, but I can get him to talk. Trust me.”
“I’m okay with that plan,” Owen murmured.
Bria nodded. “Me too.”
Finn’s phone lit up. He glanced at the caller ID and held up a finger, asking us to be quiet, before he answered. “Yes, sir? Of course, sir. Thank you, sir.” He hung up and looked at me. “Mosley just made the call. Damian Rivera has been alerted to a very suspicious transaction on one of his accounts, totaling more than three million dollars. Mosley’s asked him to come down to the bank in person so they can straighten it out.”
I nodded. That was the favor that I’d asked of Mosley, given his position at First Trust bank.
Bria and Owen picked up their binoculars again and stared at the mansion, while Finn kept his eyes glued to his phone, waiting for an update from Silvio. I looked out over the lawn, but no guards appeared, not even Bruce Porter heading back to his caretaker’s cottage.
Finn had already walked around the cottage and peered in all the windows, making sure that the structure was empty. Porter must be up in the mansion with Rivera. Hopefully the dwarf would drive his boss to the bank and take at least a couple of men with them. The fewer guards here, the better it would be for us and especially Elissa.
A minute passed, then two, then three. Cold worry trickled down my spine. What if Rivera didn’t take the bait? What if he didn’t go to the bank? What if he didn’t leave the mansion?
My hand tightened around my knife. Then I’d go in and confront him after all, no matter how many guards were in there with him—
Finn’s phone lit up with a new message. “Silvio says a car just pulled out of the front gate. Porter’s driving, and Rivera’s in the passenger’s seat.”
I’d been hoping that they would take at least one more man with them, but this was the best—and only—chance that we had to find Elissa.
“Good,” I said. “Let’s go get our girl back.”
Finn nodded and texted Silvio, telling him that we were going in. He put his phone away and pulled a silenced gun out from the small of his back. Bria and Owen both had similar weapons in their own hands. We all plugged transmitters into our ears so that we could talk to each other, checked to make sure that they were working properly, and headed for the mansion.
Since no guards were patrolling back here, we were able to sprint all the way across the lawn and over to the stone patio that surrounded the pool. We hunkered down behind the patio furniture and peered in through the windows. I spotted two women in the room where the giant Christmas tree had been, boxing up ornaments and other holiday decorations. I glanced in through the other windows, but I didn’t see any more servants or guards.
“Remember,” I whispered to the others. “We need to be as quiet and as invisible as possible. We get in, get Elissa, and get out.”
Finn, Bria, and Owen all nodded back to me, and the four of us split up. Keeping low, Finn and Bria hurried over to a side door, which was unlocked, and vanished inside the mansion. Owen and I climbed up the same trellis that I’d used two nights ago to reach the second story.
I got to my feet, hurried over, and plastered myself against the side of the mansion. I waited until Owen was next to me, and then I eased forward and peered in through the window.
The white velvet bow had been removed from the frame, giving me a clear view inside. Rivera’s office looked the same as before. Empty desk in the corner, fancy bar and shelves of liquor along one wall, photos lined up on the mantel, expensive antiques everywhere. Disappointment filled me. Now that we knew that Rivera was the Dollmaker, I’d half expected to see Elissa tied to a chair in the office. But of course things could never be that simple and easy.
Still, the office was empty, so I reached out and raised the window, which was unlocked. I held my breath, just as I had the other night, waiting for alarms to ring out, but none did. Rivera hadn’t fixed his security flaw, and I was going to take advantage of it again.
Owen and I slipped inside the office, and I left the window wide open behind us, just in case we needed to make a quick exit with Elissa.
“Where to now?” Owen whispered.
“Since she’s not in here, Elissa is most likely to be in Rivera’s bedroom. It’s the biggest room in the mansion, besides this office. Let’s go.”
We crept over to the office door and stopped, listening, but no movement sounded on the other side of the thick wood. Owen twisted the knob and wrenched the door open so that I could peer out into the hallway beyond. It was empty, and I gestured for him to open the door the rest of the way. We slid out into the hallway and stopped, looking and listening, but the mansion remained quiet.
She was voicing the same concerns and questions that I’d asked myself a dozen times over the past two hours, ever since we’d begun focusing in on Rivera. But we were here, and it was too late to turn back now. I wasn’t going to turn back now. I couldn’t. Not until we found Elissa. And if we had to search every single square inch of the mansion, then so be it. I’d promised Jade that I would do everything in my power to find her sister, and I was going to live up to that. Keeping your word was another part of his code that Fletcher had drilled into me, and I wouldn’t be able to look at myself in the mirror otherwise.
“We think that Elissa is in the mansion,” Owen said, lowering his binoculars. “But what are we going to do if she’s not?”
I flashed my knife at him. “Then we’ll grab Rivera, and I’ll cut the answers out of him. He might be a serial killer, but I can get him to talk. Trust me.”
“I’m okay with that plan,” Owen murmured.
Bria nodded. “Me too.”
Finn’s phone lit up. He glanced at the caller ID and held up a finger, asking us to be quiet, before he answered. “Yes, sir? Of course, sir. Thank you, sir.” He hung up and looked at me. “Mosley just made the call. Damian Rivera has been alerted to a very suspicious transaction on one of his accounts, totaling more than three million dollars. Mosley’s asked him to come down to the bank in person so they can straighten it out.”
I nodded. That was the favor that I’d asked of Mosley, given his position at First Trust bank.
Bria and Owen picked up their binoculars again and stared at the mansion, while Finn kept his eyes glued to his phone, waiting for an update from Silvio. I looked out over the lawn, but no guards appeared, not even Bruce Porter heading back to his caretaker’s cottage.
Finn had already walked around the cottage and peered in all the windows, making sure that the structure was empty. Porter must be up in the mansion with Rivera. Hopefully the dwarf would drive his boss to the bank and take at least a couple of men with them. The fewer guards here, the better it would be for us and especially Elissa.
A minute passed, then two, then three. Cold worry trickled down my spine. What if Rivera didn’t take the bait? What if he didn’t go to the bank? What if he didn’t leave the mansion?
My hand tightened around my knife. Then I’d go in and confront him after all, no matter how many guards were in there with him—
Finn’s phone lit up with a new message. “Silvio says a car just pulled out of the front gate. Porter’s driving, and Rivera’s in the passenger’s seat.”
I’d been hoping that they would take at least one more man with them, but this was the best—and only—chance that we had to find Elissa.
“Good,” I said. “Let’s go get our girl back.”
Finn nodded and texted Silvio, telling him that we were going in. He put his phone away and pulled a silenced gun out from the small of his back. Bria and Owen both had similar weapons in their own hands. We all plugged transmitters into our ears so that we could talk to each other, checked to make sure that they were working properly, and headed for the mansion.
Since no guards were patrolling back here, we were able to sprint all the way across the lawn and over to the stone patio that surrounded the pool. We hunkered down behind the patio furniture and peered in through the windows. I spotted two women in the room where the giant Christmas tree had been, boxing up ornaments and other holiday decorations. I glanced in through the other windows, but I didn’t see any more servants or guards.
“Remember,” I whispered to the others. “We need to be as quiet and as invisible as possible. We get in, get Elissa, and get out.”
Finn, Bria, and Owen all nodded back to me, and the four of us split up. Keeping low, Finn and Bria hurried over to a side door, which was unlocked, and vanished inside the mansion. Owen and I climbed up the same trellis that I’d used two nights ago to reach the second story.
I got to my feet, hurried over, and plastered myself against the side of the mansion. I waited until Owen was next to me, and then I eased forward and peered in through the window.
The white velvet bow had been removed from the frame, giving me a clear view inside. Rivera’s office looked the same as before. Empty desk in the corner, fancy bar and shelves of liquor along one wall, photos lined up on the mantel, expensive antiques everywhere. Disappointment filled me. Now that we knew that Rivera was the Dollmaker, I’d half expected to see Elissa tied to a chair in the office. But of course things could never be that simple and easy.
Still, the office was empty, so I reached out and raised the window, which was unlocked. I held my breath, just as I had the other night, waiting for alarms to ring out, but none did. Rivera hadn’t fixed his security flaw, and I was going to take advantage of it again.
Owen and I slipped inside the office, and I left the window wide open behind us, just in case we needed to make a quick exit with Elissa.
“Where to now?” Owen whispered.
“Since she’s not in here, Elissa is most likely to be in Rivera’s bedroom. It’s the biggest room in the mansion, besides this office. Let’s go.”
We crept over to the office door and stopped, listening, but no movement sounded on the other side of the thick wood. Owen twisted the knob and wrenched the door open so that I could peer out into the hallway beyond. It was empty, and I gestured for him to open the door the rest of the way. We slid out into the hallway and stopped, looking and listening, but the mansion remained quiet.
