Page 82 of Wayward
“He’s my cousin. I’ll tell you the rest when we get where we’re going.” A half hour later, Nolan pulls the van into an underground parking lot. He’s wearing a large overcoat over his gun. “Let’s go. Three blocks down this road, take a right at thefruit stand, look for 120. It’s a green door. Wait in the lobby. Walk two at a time. I’ll be right behind you. And I know it’s tough to trust me. But please, please just give me ten minutes when we get to the flat.”
Surprisingly, there’s not a battle over who’s walking with whom. Sam and Haley are first, Dante and Zane are in the middle, and lastly, it’s Calvin and me. No one is looking at us. Which is shocking. I’m not short, and Calvin’s a damn Viking with a cat in his hoodie.
We pass a pub, a bakery, and a small grocery store before the fruit market. The lobby at 120 has seen better days.
Our keeper, Mitch’s cousin, unlocks the door to the inner foyer. “It’s a walk up. Sorry, elevators have been broken for the last month.”
“You want a lift, Haley?” Calvin asks.
“My ankle’s good. I’ve been going up and down the stairs at the château.”
“It’s ten stories. Pick her up, caveman. We don’t have a lot of time,” Nolan says.
But I give Haley a cock of my chin and she throws her arms around my chest, and up we go. My shoulder’s long healed, and holding Haley makes me feel better.
“I’ve seen more of the world upside down than I’ve ever imagined.” She holds on tight. We’re flying up the stairs. A couple passes us, coming down, holding the hands of their child. “Training for the wife carry contest,” Haley tells them. I can tell she must be waving as she momentarily lets go of my waist and moves on my shoulder.
“You want me to take a turn?” Calvin’s beside me, step for step. I know he wants to take her, but he’s carrying Pepper in his hoodie.
“I’m good.” When we round the tenth flight, I’ve got to say I’m awfully glad to see the landing.
Nolan unlocks the door.
“What in the hell?” Sam says. Whatever it is can’t be good, as Sam doesn’t shock easily.
I haven’t seen what he’s referring to, as I’m helping Haley get her equilibrium back. “You good?” I ask when her feet are settled on the floor.
“Yes, thank you. I swear I didn’t injure myself just so you all could carry me.” She winks.
“I’ll carry you for no reason, any day, Little Bird.” Zane’s focused on Haley too.
And when I turn around, I see what Sam means. There’s an arsenal of weapons on a plastic folding table. Behind it is a wall of maps, photos of people, mug shots. And places. We’re all drawn to it like Penny is drawn to a tennis ball. We gather around the wall. Penny jumps on the threadbare, secondhand sofa, and Calvin’s locked Pepper behind the door to the side of the sofa. Which I can only guess is a bathroom or bedroom.
My eyes flick over the photos.
“This picture is just like the ones we found on theRock Candy.” Haley pulls the push pin from the black-and-white photograph. It’s the one with the girl sitting on the cot with a cross behind her. She holds it up to the light.
“That’s my sister, Kiera.” Nolan points to the college student photo. “This is Trent’s sister. Our family called us the twins. Because I’m the same age as Trent, born two weeks apart. And our sisters were born on the same day, five years later.” Nolan takes the photo from Haley. “These two photos are how our personal hell started.” He taps one of Mitch-Trent’s sisters. “Before he left to pick up theRock Candy, someone paid him a visit in Miami. They made it sound like they had a job opening up for him, when what they had done was take Kiera. She was at school in Paris.” His voice trails off. “They told Trent to not tell anyone or they would kill Kiera. And the stupid fucker believedthem. It might be true. She might already be dead. I still haven’t found her.”
“Mitch . . .Trent did it all? Everything to theRock Candy.” Sam’s growling.
“He did. Though I never got a chance to talk to him. I don’t have proof, but I’m sure he’s dead.”
“Oh.” Haley clasps her hand over her mouth. “I’m sorry.”
“Thank you,” Nolan says.
I’m not sure how I feel about him being dead. The kid could have gone to the police. He could have said no. And then maybe both he and Candy would be alive. We wouldn’t have been on an island for a year. I wouldn’t have Haley, my family, the guys. “If you haven’t talked to him, how do you know all this?”
“Trent thought he could handle it. But he had a backup plan if he couldn’t. A month after the incident?—”
“Incident?”
“Yes. His interference with the ship was planned. But comparing his notes to the press briefing, something happened. A month after the incident was to have happened, he had an email scheduled for me.”
“You? Why not the police?”
“I’ve got some skills . . .”
