Chapter 148

Where could I hide? Behind the desk? But wouldn’t that be the first place someone would go to if they came to this room? There weren’t many other spots to hide. A couple of high-back chairs were dotted around, but they wouldn’t provide much cover.

“Piper?”

My thoughts came to a screeching halt.

That was Nicholas’s voice.

I rushed back to the door. “Nicholas?”

“Oh, thank God,” came Nicholas’s voice, muffled with the barrier between us.

“How did you know I was in here?”

“I was snooping around. When I didn’t see you with the tour group, I came looking for you.”

“Did they move on without me?” I asked. If they had, Terry likely immediately noticed my absence.

“The servants were taking them back, from what I could tell,” Nicholas said. “Terry wasn’t with them.”

A pit opened in my stomach. Did that mean he was looking for me too?

“I want to get out of here,” I said, fear apparent in my voice, even to me.

“Step back, Piper.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to get you out of there.”

Oh, God, he was going to break down the door! I rushed away at once, moving behind the desk. “Okay!” I called. “I’m clear!”

“Three…” Nicholas said.

“Two…”

“Wait!” Julian hissed. “What the hell do you think you are doing?”

“Piper’s in there. I’m getting her out.”

“And making it clear we’ve snooped through the room. Stop. Just stop. Let a professional handle this.”

Metal jingled in the lock.

I came close to the door again. “What are you doing?”

“Picking the lock like a civilized person,” Julian said back. “Just one moment…”

The lock clicked.

“Ah!” Julian said with pride. “There we go. No brute force needed.”

“Whatever,” Nicholas grumbled.

The door knob turned and the door pushed open. Suddenly, Nicholas and Julian were both spilling into the room.

Nicholas looked me over up and down, his face serious. Julian smirked.

“I got your message, Piper. The GPS works.”

I moved between them both, and pulled them both into a hug at the same time. My relief was palpable. I had been even more scared than I had wanted to admit. My hands were still trembling.

If Terry had found me first…

Both Nicholas and Julian held me back, even longer than they needed to. For a long, special moment we stood together, united in our relief and happy with our reunion. Then, too soon, we began to separate.

Julian stepped back first. In his absence, Nicholas wrapped both arms around me, holding me closer.

“We should get going,” I said.

“This looks like my uncle’s office,” Julian said, looking around.

“I didn’t find anything in here.”

“Yeah.” Julian held up a finger. “But did you look in the right places?”

Reluctantly, Nicholas and I stepped away from each other. I followed Julian toward the desk.

“I searched the drawers,” I said. “Everything seemed normal.”

“Watch.” Julian opened the drawer with the paper weight. He pressed his hand up along the underside of the drawer above it. There was a popping sound, and then a secret drawer dropped open.

My eyes went wide. Of course someone like Terry would have secret drawers.

“Check the other drawers,” Julian said. In the secret compartment he opened was a signet ring. Julian slid it into his pocket.

Following his instruction, I checked the other drawers. On my own, I found another secret compartment. This one was empty.

“Keep trying,” Julian said.

Nodding, I moved to the next drawer.

Nicholas moved closer, watching us from the opposite side of the desk. He crossed his arms over his chest.

“I imagine Piper pressed on the pendant, and that’s how you knew where she was, Julian?” Nicholas asked.

Julian’s hand slipped off the drawer handle. He cleared his throat and quickly grabbed it again.

“I guess Piper told you about my gift,” Julian said.

“You said you would tell him,” I said.

“I was getting around to it.” Julian shrugged. “The right moment just hadn’t come up yet.”

“You gave her that necklace to help her out specifically in this place,” Nicholas said. “I highly doubt that you couldn’t find a moment to tell me about it.”

“That’s the truth,” Julian said. “Besides, so long as one of us gets the message to help her out, does it matter which one?”

“Then switch it to me,” Nicholas said.

I gave Nicholas a flat look. He wasn’t helping deescalate this argument – an argument they shouldn’t even be having in the middle of Terry’s office while searching for secret compartments in his desk.

Nicholas deflated a little, under my look, though he didn’t uncross his arms. The moment his eyes returned to Julian, they hardened again.

“I wanted both,” I said.

“And I will set it to both,” Julian said. “The very next free moment I have.”

“Now, Julian. I imagine it will take you two minutes on your phone,” Nicholas said.

“And you don’t think we’re doing something vastly more important at the moment?”

“No,” Nicholas was firm.

Julian sighed. “Keep searching, Piper.” He retrieved his phone from his pocket.

The current drawer I looked through didn’t have a compartment along the top, but when I traced my hand along the side, I felt a small catch. I pressed down and a lid sprung open, revealing a letter tucked away underneath.

“What’s this?” I pulled the letter from the secret compartment and unfolded it.

“Find something?” Julian’s eyes were on his phone.

Nicholas rounded the desk to come to my side. I opened the letter then nearly dropped it. Nicholas caught it and me, steadying both.

“Why didn’t he destroy this?” Nicholas asked, more to himself than anyone else. “It even says to burn it?”

“Why does uncle do anything?” Julian put his phone away. He scooched closer to me to peer at the letter over my shoulder.

“Hubris,” I said.

“Even so… This…” Nicholas was at a loss for words.

Julian whistled. “It’s damn incriminating.”

In my hands, I held a letter addressed to Terry, welcoming him to the underground organization.

The letter was dated back a few years, long enough that he very well could have been the man to tempt Jane over to the darkness.

Disgust and hatred swirled in my gut.

“Do you recognize that signature?” Nicholas asked.

“I can’t make it out…” I said. I only saw swirls. There was no printed name underneath.

“It’s Hawk,” Julian said. We both looked at him. “The unofficial underground organization’s leader? If you can call him that. Their leadership is more like a council. But Hawk is the one keeping them all in line.”

Julian would know. He’d been investigating into the underground organization for who knew how long.

“Hawk.” I tried the word out in my mouth. I felt bad for the bird that had to share its name with such an undoubtedly vicious person. “Who is he really?”

“No one knows,” Julian said. “I doubt even Terry does, something that probably irks him to no end.”

“Receiving this letter would be an honor, then,” Nicholas said. “Something Terry would want to remember.”

“He’s probably mad he can’t hang it up,” Julian said with a laugh. “But, lucky for us, he’s vein enough to hold onto it regardless. Tuck it into your pocket, Nicholas, and let’s get the hell out of here. That should be proof enough.”

Nicholas folded the letter and put it into his inside jacket pocket.

It felt like a victory, securing something like that.

But we still had to survive the rest of the night to get it to safety.

“Let’s go,” Nicholas said, and held out his hand for me.

I took it.