"Now, you imbecile!"
Hollis regretted hiring Baravetto's moron nephew, but he needed people he could trust. His entire career was in jeopardy.
As the Bentley reversed down the driveway, Hollis yanked his cell phone from his suit jacket and punched the speed dial.
Two rings, then, "Yes."
"The Brennan girl," Hollis barked. "She and her friends must be dealt with immediately. I'll be in Columbia."
He heard an intake of breath. Cut off the response.
"And no more mistakes!"
CHAPTER 66
"He's lying," Shelton said. "He has to be."
Ben nodded in agreement.
Hi shifted in his seat, uneasy.
The four of us sat aboard Sewee back at the Morris Island dock. No one had any idea what to do next.
An hour before, I'd slunk from Claybourne Manor, humiliated.
The walk across town had seemed endless.
The other Virals had been relieved to see me at the marina. Then I told them about my crash and burn. No one spoke during our ride across the harbor.
"I think Chance told the truth," I said softly. "I believe him."
"But he admitted that his father killed Heaton," Shelton said. "Then he admitted stealing Heaton's bones. Chance even admitted shooting at us!" He threw up his hands. "Who else would've killed Dr. K?"
"Chance won't own up to murder," Ben said. "His ego isn't that big."
"But why let Tory go?" Hi asked. "If Chance meant to kill us all at the bunker, why not finish Tory off when he had her trapped?"
"Fear of being caught," Shelton said. "He knew Tory would have told us where she was going. And Chance has all the evidence now anyway. Why not let her go?"
"What was I supposed to do, kick his ass?" I said defensively. "He's twice my size!"
But I was embarrassed. Like a dolt, I'd delivered Heaton's notebook to Chance.
"Did you try to flare?" Hi asked. "You leveled Jason at that dance. Chance isn't much bigger."
"I tried, but it didn't work." I shook my head in frustration. "I was flaring right before he showed up. That's how I found Hollis's study and the dog tags. But once I lost it, I couldn't get it back."
"You did the right thing," Ben said. "You had no choice."
"What do we do now?" Hi asked. "Chance can come after us at any time."
"I really think he was being honest," I said. "I don't think he tried to kill us."
"Tory," Hi began. "I know you think the guy is--"
"Just listen!" I sat forward. "Chance admitted to switching the bones. His father told him the location of the grave. But how could he have found our bunker?"
"He trailed us," Shelton offered. "Just like Karsten."
I shook my head. "Ben and I weren't followed from Loggerhead that night. I'm sure of it. And Karsten said he followed you guys from this dock. He swore he didn't see anyone else. It doesn't add up."
Hi scratched his chin. "Then the killers found our bunker some other way."
"But how?" I pressed. "You'd never spot it just by poking around."
"Truth now." Ben looked at each of us. "Did any of you ever tell anyone about the bunker?"
"Nope."
"No way."
"Not a soul."
"Me either," Ben said. "I'm stumped."
"We have to figure out who learned the bunker's location," I said. "And how they did it. We're not safe until we do."
"But we've lost the evidence. And Heaton's skeleton," Shelton said. "We're dead in the water."
"We can't let the Claybournes win," I said.
"No," Ben agreed. "We can't."
"Okay, Tory. You're the commander." Hi snapped a salute. "What now?"
"Chance told me he was going to destroy everything," I said. "The notebook, the dog tags, Heaton's remains."
"So he still has the skeleton," Hi reasoned.
"Exactly."
"I know where this is going," Shelton muttered.
"We need to get it all back," I said. "Find Katherine's bones. Win."
"But where's he got the bones stashed?" Ben asked.
"Claybourne Manor. Where else?"
"She's going to say 'tonight,' isn't she?" Shelton's chin dropped to his chest. "Every time I think I'm done for the night, Tory says we have to invade some fortress."
"Cheer up." I flashed a wicked smile. "This time we do it our way. We go in hot."
"We'll show the Claybournes what happens when you mess with the Virals."
CHAPTER 67
"Dam"
I replaced the brick and stepped back from the gate.
"The key is gone."
Two in the morning. We were huddled beside Claybourne Manor's outer wall, dressed all in black, cat burglar style. A full moon was lighting the path. Hopefully, the sumacs were concealing us from late nighters strolling the sidewalk.
"Chance isn't stupid," Hi whispered. "He figured out how you got in earlier."
Clearly. We needed another way inside.
"We'll go over the top," I said. "It's the only option."
Shelton glanced up at the iron spikes topping the ten-foot wall. "You're nuts."
"Rope." I held out a hand.
Ben pulled a coil of double-braided nylon cord from his bag. Sewee's back-up anchor line. I tied the knots and created a two-foot lasso.
"I'll do it." Ben winged the lasso at a spike directly above us. Missed. Two more tosses. Both failures.
"May I?"