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I’ I’
Arthur Ha from his chin and eyebrows
The woman reaches out her hand, but then it drops back to her side Two syringes lay eed My eyes sweep the rest of her, seeing that the bends of her arms and around her ankles are painted by needle marks
I can’t help it any her up But Victor reaches out and grabsat Arthur Ha htstand on the side of the bed where theis There is another gun in the drawer Bring it to me"
I want to say no, that I won’t do it, but the stand I take only goes as far as my mind I do it because a part of me still trusts Victor as oes too far
"OK," I say and run back into the ht where Victor said it would be and I pick it up nervously by the handle and carry it so carefully back into the hidden roo to explode in my hand Maybe it’s because I knohat he’s about to do with it It feels heavier, deadlier, un I’ve ever held Even the one I used to shoot Javier with didn’t feel like this
I feelin the bottoms ofa pair of black gloves now
I step up to hiun I take the other one andI can barely hold it straight I feel like I did when I hid in Victor’s car, the gun so heavy in my hands that I just wanted to drop it and be free of it
Victor looks at reen eyes intense and faintly empathetic
"Do you trustyour ears," he instructs and I don’t hesitate
Without another word he walks over to the wife and leans forward, lifting her fro position Her body is so weak and disconnected that she can just barely stay upright on her own Her eyes open and close seeun into her hand, folding her fingers around the handle and her index finger on the trigger I feel like I’ to be sick, but the adrenaline won’t let me
Victor positions his body in front of her and shoves the gun underneath her chin and pulls the trigger with her finger I hear the shot reverberate through the thick-walled roo cries out his wife’s name and then slu with emotion
Victor stands behindto shield esture that I find unexpected and sheltering
"You have one hour," Victor says "You et your story in order"
"Fuck you! Fuck you!" Arthur Ha fro his face from the floor an inch "Fuck you!"
"It never would’ve happened," Victor adds
Then he wraps one arm around my shoulder and walks ht as best he can I want to break away fro bastard in the sto dead just feet away fro at her so chilling--I have seen too much death to be affected in that way--but it’s the terrible feeling of her being innocent and in need of help that makes it unbearable
What has Victor done?
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
Victor
I stop Sarai at the doors to the suite and turn her around to face me, my hands on her arms I shake her "Listen to me," I say and she raises her eyes "You’re still in character alk out of here Act as you did before any of this happened Do you understand?" I shake her again
She nods erratically and then takes a deep breath, sing the lump in her throat
We step out into the hall and I turn the lock on the inside of the suite door before closing it How safely we get out of this mansion and off this property all now lies in the hands of Ha If he decides he wants us dead more than he wants to stay out of prison and lose his entire fortune, then the next five un from the briefcase in the closet Nine bullets are in the chauards ill be shooting at us with only nine bullets If I were alone and didn’t have Sarai to protect, I could pull it off
"Head up," I whisper harshly to Sarai on ht
She raises her chin and I slip lass elevator The two guards who had been positioned outside Ha’s room are nowhere to be seen, but there is one at the end of the hall Like the others, he’s wearing an earpiece We walk by hi a venorins like an idiot until the elevator drops us below his floor
"Ah, there you are," Vince Shaw, Haround floor "Are the two of you leaving already? You should stay a while longer Lucinda is going to play for us tonight" He stands with his hands folded neatly in front of him
I smile and shake ht to catch"
"But I want to stay," Sarai says as Izabel and with a little whine in her voice
"Not this tiht when I don’t get at least six hours of sleep the night before"