The Romance Revival(91)

I parked far enough away that if someone inside is monitoring the security cameras, they won’t see me until I’m directly in front of the entrance. And they must be, because as soon as I’m standing facing a tinted glass door, an automated lock clicks loudly, allowing me to pull it open.

Propping the door open for any future rescuing I may require, I take a deep breath and step into the darkened front office. It feels like a space that’s seldom occupied. In front of me is a single desk, a metal filing cabinet, and nothing on the walls. To the right is a bathroom, and directly ahead is a door. Without any directions, I assume I’m meant to go through it.

With a glance behind me, I clutch everything to my chest and move forward.

The doorway opens to an enormous warehouse with cement floors and exposed beams. Again, there isn’t much light, but it doesn’t strike me as a place that runs as a business day-to-day. The majority of the shelves are empty, and there are no boxes or identifiable products of any kind.

“Did you bring it?”

I squint into the darkness at the sound of a Vince’s voice. “Yes.”

“Are you alone?”

“Yes.”

“Good.”

There’s a click in the far corner, and lights overhead illuminate one after the other. It takes a moment for my eyes to adjust, but when they do, I see Luca in a chair, alive and relatively unharmed. There’s tape over his mouth and his hands appear to be tied behind his back. Standing next to him is Vince.

At the sight of my husband, it seems insane that the first thought I have isn’t We’re gonna make it out of this! The first thought I have is If we make it out of this, you can leave me, and I won’t try to stop you. I don’t even blame him. I want to assure him that I didn’t know about the lawyer or that he was unhappy enough to contact one.

But that’s not exactly true. I didn’t know he’d seen a lawyer or was contemplating divorce, and I may be able to claim obliviousness, but I’m not dumb. On some level, as much as I didn’t want to admit it, I knew he wasn’t happy. I just chose not to acknowledge it. I’d do better tomorrow. And then the tomorrow after that, until one day, tomorrow didn’t come. Life really is short.

But instead of saying any of that, what comes out is a shaky “I’m sorry.”

Eyes wide and urgent, Luca shakes his head and tries to gesture behind his shoulder. I expected to see Vince, but I don’t expect the figure who steps out of the shadows.

My pulse skips, my fingers flush cold. I can’t be seeing this right.

“Claire?”

In the dim light, her smile is unlike one I’ve ever seen on her before. Gone is the calm, kind, and attentive assistant I’ve known for two years. This woman is looking at me with disgust… and has a gun pointed directly at my chest. “What I think your husband would like to say is he’s glad you’re smarter than you look.” She gestures with the gun. “Now, please, Emery. The compound. Set it on the floor and back up. Your phone, too.”

“What the hell is happening here? Claire, if Vince is forcing you to do something—”

She laughs. “Be serious. Does it look like Vince is in charge?” She lifts her chin. “Your phone and the compound.”

My head is spinning. Claire came on board at BioNEX just over two years ago as Leonard’s assistant, but he quickly realized that I needed more help than I had and transferred her to my team. She’s been nothing but amazing: diligent, efficient, professional. She’s seen me agonize over unexpected data and cry over animals we were unable to save early on. She’s celebrated victories with me and Annie and Tom and stayed long hours writing reports. But to realize she’s working with Vince?

My heart sinks. Fuck Vince, but this one hurts.

“Emery,” she prompts, dragging me from my mental spiral.

I pull my phone and notes out of my pocket and set them with the box of compound on the cement floor.

“Okay,” I say, slowly straightening and backing away, “I’m just—just reeling right now.”

“I’m sure,” she says, and gestures for Vince to retrieve my things from the floor.

“We’ve worked together, Claire. I trusted you. I knew Vince was a weasel, but I—I didn’t expect this from you.”

Vince has the nerve to look offended.

“I can see the gears turning from here,” she says, stepping around him. “Trying to piece together my motivations.” Claire tilts her head from side to side. “You’re wondering: Is it business or personal?”

“I cannot fathom either,” I say honestly.

Claire laughs. “Do you know your problem, Emery?” She pauses, brows raised as if I might actually answer. When I don’t, she says, “I’ll tell you. You are so single-mindedly focused on your goal that you never see what’s going on around you.” She tilts her head toward Luca. “I’m sure your husband would agree.”

Luca tugs against his restraints; his eyes blaze, and I can read his thoughts as if he’s spoken them aloud: This bitch had better hope I don’t get loose.

“I’m sorry I had to drag him into this,” she says, gesturing with the gun to my husband. “But Vince was taking so damn long, I had to speed things up a little.” Laughing, she adds, “No pun intended.”