Page 54 of Broken Empire
Leah started the car and steered it back onto the road. “We still need to figure out where we’re going to hide for the next few days,” she said. “Did you think of anything yet, Killian?”
He let out a heavy sigh. “No, not yet.”
“I think I might have a place,” I said, turning to look at him. “You said it has to be somewhere the Schöneberg Group wouldneverthink to look, right?”
He leaned forward. “What are you thinking?”
I raised a brow. “Where’s one place I would never want to go?”
“Back to that creepy fucking mansion we just left? Or the Kingsford?”
I let out a dry laugh. “Well, yeah. Apart from that,” I said. “Anyway… after what the Riordans and Vandenbergs did to me, I don’t think anyone would ever expect me to go back to either of their places on Long Island. Right?”
Killian sat up straighter. “Shit, that’s a good idea,” he said, brows lifting. “No one would expect it in a million years.”
“And their houses would probably be empty at the moment, right?” Leah added. “Because everyone from those families is either in prison or hiding from the media.”
“Exactly.” I nodded. “We just have to hope that the properties weren’t already seized by the feds.”
“How would we get in, though? It’s not like you have a key.”
“I know people I can ask,” I said, jaw tightening. “Carla and Gabe.”
“Who?”
“My bio parents. I didn’t turn them in for helping Cooper and the others because I didn’t want my little sister to grow up without parents,” I said. “I told them if they fuck anything up with her, I’ll let the authorities know about their role in everything. So now they’re desperate to suck up and stay on my good side.”
“Do you think they’d let us stay with them?”
“Yeah, probably, but I don’t want to do that,” I said. “I don’t want to put Jessica at risk.”
“That’s your little sis?”
“Yes.” I nodded slowly. “I’ll call Carla now and ask about the main Vandenberg compound. If there’s an alarm code or something to get through the gate and into the house, she’ll know about it, and she’ll give it to me. I’m sure of it.”
“Do you know her number?” Leah asked.
“Yes. Can I have your phone?”
Leah briefly stopped the car again so I could step out and make the call. I was right about Carla—she was practically foaming at the mouth to help me when I told her I was in trouble and needed somewhere to hide out. She told me that Ari Vandenberg’s mansion in Great Neck was currently empty, and she had a spare key. Then she gave me the code for the front gate and said she would drive over as soon as possible and leave the key somewhere on the property so we could get inside the house.
She also offered to bring Jessica over for a visit, but I declined. I desperately wanted to see her—I missed her so much that my heart ached at the mere thought of her—but I had to remain cognizant of the fact that I was on the run from a powerful organization with tentacles stretching in every direction. As long as that was still going on, it wasn’t safe for my sister to be around. If anything happened to her, I’d never forgive myself.
I gave Leah the address to the Great Neck estate, and then we were off. Killian tossed his phone out of the car on the highway near Poughkeepsie so the Schöneberg people couldn’t use it to track us, but Leah’s phone remained with us. No one had any idea she was helping us, so they wouldn’t be tracking her, and we figured it was a good idea for us to have a phone for emergencies.
We arrived at Ari Vandenberg’s house an hour later. It was an enormous French Colonial with ivy creeping up the pale gray walls, secluded behind a hulking black iron gate and stone walls.
“Nice place to hide out,” Leah remarked, craning her neck to stare up at the mansion.
I gave her a weak smile. “We could definitely do a lot worse.”
She rolled down the window and leaned toward the small control panel on the side of the gate. “What’s the code?”
Once the gate was open, Leah steered the car down the driveway and parked it in the three-door garage off to the side of the house.
True to her word, Carla had left the key in a planter box right near the front entrance. She’d also left a bag filled with toiletries and food.
As soon as we let ourselves in, a wave of fatigue crashed over me. I yawned and crumpled onto a gold-threaded loveseat in the foyer.
