Page 62 of Broken Empire
Shay hesitated. “Let’s go to Bellingham,” she finally said.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. I always loved that view from my dorm window. You know, the lake near the woods with all the mountains in the background?”
I nodded. “Yeah.”
“Let’s go and sit there until they find us. We can watch tomorrow’s sunrise together.”
“We’ll have to grab some stuff from my dorm so we don’t freeze to death, but yeah… that sounds good.” I gave her a small smile. “By the way, open the glove compartment.”
Shay did as I said, leaning forward. “What am I looking for?”
“You’ll see.”
She rooted around in the compartment for a moment, and then her eyes widened. “Is this…” She trailed off and pulled out a silver-beaded bracelet. “Oh my god, itis!”
“I should’ve given it back to you a long time ago,” I said, looking over at her as the car idled at a red light. “I figured it was probably important to you because it’s engraved.”
“You were right,” she said softly, slipping the bracelet around her wrist. “My parents gave it to me years ago.”
“I had the broken clasp fixed a few days before my Schöneberg initiation,” I said, turning my attention back to the road. “It made me feel more… I don’t know. Hopeful, I guess. Like youhadto come back to me so I could finally return it to you.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Shay smile. “You know, if you think about it, everything between us started because of this bracelet. If I hadn’t dropped it that night in the grotto…”
She trailed off, letting those words linger in the air. Before I could reply, a loud vibrating sound made Shay jump.
“Oh my god. I’m literally a nervous wreck,” she muttered, plucking Leah’s phone out of the center console. She’d left it with us in case we needed to contact anyone, seeing as I’d tossed my own phone out the window yesterday. “It’s a private number. Should I answer it?”
I shook my head. “It could be anyone.”
The phone stopped vibrating in Shay’s hand. A moment later, it briefly buzzed again. “It’s a text,” Shay said. “It’s from Cori!”
“What does it say?”
“I know Leah gave you her phone. Please answer. I really need to talk to you,” Shay read aloud.
The phone started ringing again, and I waved a hand. “Answer it.”
Shay pressed the green button on the screen before putting the call on speakerphone. “Cori?”
“Oh my god, Shay…” Cori sniffed and coughed to clear her throat. “I’m so sorry. I had no idea.”
“I know. It’s not your fault. Robert tricked a lot of people.”
“I can’t stand it. I can’t…” Cori trailed off again and let out a wrenching sob. “Shay, I’m so sorry to do this to you right now, but I really need your help.”
Shay frowned. “What’s going on?”
“Robert is here in the city right now. When I saw him on TV, I asked him to come over and see me. I didn’t tell him that I knew about him, and he hadn’t seen the show, so he had no idea that I knew anything.”
Curiosity made my skin prickle, and I raised my brows at Shay. “What’s she talking about?” I whispered.
Shay shrugged at me as she replied to Cori. “So Robert is at your apartment with you right now?”
“Yes.”
“Cori, you need to call the police and get away from him.Now.”
