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Chapter 26

It was a subdued group who e of Ed’s betrayal ritten in the red-rimmed eyes and shocked expressions of everyone present None of them understood it Julia doubted they ever would

She stared out of the living room hich looked out onto a close-up section of pristine Incan wall, and wondered what they were going to do next They’d run out of options And that meant Alice had run out of time For someone who normally had a head full of ideas, her brain was horribly quiet

A knock at the door drew everyone’s attention, and Joe pulled the gun froh the peephole

“It’s Calluun and opened the door

Julia was surprised when Callum rolled into the room in a wheelchair, but she wasn’t shocked Everyone knew Callus The fact they hadn’t seen hie

“We , then?” he snapped as he rolled over to the

Julia automatically recoiled fro froible, and the rooan to prickle, and without realising that she was even doing it, she took a step towards the bedroom and her escape

“Everybody up to speed on what happened with Ed?” Callum said

“Yeah” Ryan grabbed one of the seats at the dining table As usual, there was a tray of food in front of him, but he didn’t touch it Instead, he kept a wary eye on Callum

Julia scanned the people in the roo Calluht Joe’s eyes froh he could see inside of her She watched as he noted her hands wrapped in the strap of her bag, and the distance she’d covered towards the bedroom Julia lowered her eyes She couldn’t watch hied with her She was still as much of a freak as she’d been when they first met

“What’s done is done,” Callum barked “We need to move on If you can’t do that, tell h the air There was silence “Okay, in that case, what’s the situation at the last hotel?”

“I did so the place”

Julia studied her boss He was coiled tight enough to snap She glanced down at the beige alpaca wool blanket covering the space where his legs should have been, and it hit her—he was scared Scared of what they would think of him Scared they would think him incapable A wave of empathy rocked her She kne that felt She dealt with it every day People thinking she was less than normal because she behaved in ways they couldn’t comprehend Her heart ached for hin of an explosion

“Julia,” Callu her freeze in place