“I’ll get it!” Vi scrambled down the stairs at that exact moment with Phil right on her heels.
He grabbed her arm and tugged her to a stop three steps from the bottom. He said something and she made no move to continue. Juliette would have been severely impressed if Javier hadn’t taken that moment to yank open the door.
The thing Juliette found hilarious about the whole situation wasn’t the look of stunned horror on the pizza boy’s face at having guns aimed at his face or that he would no doubt go back to work and tell them about the crazy house, but that Mrs. Tompkins continued to roll and thump on her clump of dough like nothing weird was happening. It was the same sort of indifference she’d given when Juliette had explained why there was a van parked outside or why Vi needed an escort everywhere she went. She had been honest with both of them and yet Mrs. Tompkins had taken it with a nod of her head and nothing else. Vi had been furious at the very idea of being followed anywhere. She had threatened to run away, to never speak to Juliette again. But one day with Phil and she had forgotten all about her rage. Juliette didn’t want to question a good thing, but she was beginning to wonder if maybe Killian had found a way to implant people with chips designed to make them do whatever he wanted. In Vi and Mrs. Tompkins’ss case, to not fight the transition. To accept that they would be protected. She knew that was impossible and still she couldn’t help wonder.
The pizza was brought into the kitchen and set on the counter. Plates were handed out and everyone grabbed a slice. Everyone, except Juliette. She kept glancing at the clock, watching the minutes sift away and still nothing from Killian. It had been hours. How could he not be finished?
“Have you heard anything from Killian?” she asked Tyson, who set his pizza down, chewed, and swallowed before answering.
“No ma’am.”
The knot in her stomach tightened. She stared at the front door and tried not to let her imagination go wild.
“Can I have the keys to the SUV, please?” she asked him, holding out her palm.
Tyson peered at her. “I can’t do that, ma’am. We were given orders to keep you here until further instructions.”
She curled her fingers and drew her hand back. “Fine. I’ll find my own way there.”
Leaving the kitchen, she stalked down the hall. She made it as far as midway to the door when her path was blocked by John.
“We can’t allow you to go there, ma’am,” he told her in that infuriatingly calm manner.
“You can’t stop me!” she shot back. “He could be hurt or worse and we may never know if we’re sitting here doing nothing.”
“There are protocols—”
“I don’t give a shit about your protocols. I just care about making sure Killian’s all right. It’s been hours and no meeting takes this long. It means something has happened, something horrible or someone would have already gotten in touch. Now, you can take me or you can get out of my way.”
John never so much as batted an eye. “I’m sorry, ma’am.”
“Don’t sorry me!” she practically screamed. “Just move.”
“Can’t do that, ma’am.”
Maddeningly close to tears, Juliette glowered at him. Her balled fists trembled at her sides with the need to punch someone, but she knew it was pointless. He was bigger and perfectly capable of restraining her if need be.
“Juliette.” Gentle hands took her arm and she was tugged away from the wall of muscle keeping her from the door. Vi peered at her with an ocean of sympathy Juliette had never once seen on her sister’s face. “Come on,” she said, motioning with the jerk of her head towards the stairs.
She let herself be led away. No one stopped them, not even Phil, who followed, but stayed in the hall when Vi pulled Juliette into her bedroom and shut the door behind them.
“You’re not going to get through them,” she told Juliette. “They’re black ops, like top of the line almost assassins. Phil told me,” she explained when Juliette stared at her. “They’re highly trained killing machines, or something. Anyway, they won’t let you leave if they don’t want to.”
The thought of being held captive in her own home terrified her. It made her wonder what the hell she’d gotten them into, and if something had happened to Killian, how was she going to get them out?
“They’re not bad guys,” Vi said quickly. “But they’ll follow their orders or die.”
“I need to see Killian,” she said, and heard the desperation in her own voice. “He could be in trouble.”
Vi raised an eyebrow. “The guy is trouble, Juliette. He’s like grade A, crime lord trouble.”
“No!” Juliette said too quickly. “He’s not. I mean, he is, but he’s not a bad person. He’s really sweet and kind and one of the most—”
“You love him!” Vi’s gasp startled her.
“What? No! No, it’s not like that.”
“Right, because I constantly worry about people I don’t love, you know, just for the hell of it.”
“I care about him,” Juliette admitted. “He’s been very good to us in ways you cannot possibly imagine. We both owe him our lives. I know I do and there isn’t any way I can ever repay him.”
“Oh, I don’t know.” Vi grinned at her. “I’m sure you’ll find a way.”
“Vi!”
“I meant a nice batch of homemade cookies, you pervert.” But the mischievous glint in her eyes said otherwise and Juliette laughed.
Juliette sobered and eyed her sister. “This is nice,” she said. “Why have we never done this before?”
“You mean sisterly bonding?” Vi teased. “Oh, probably because Mom got sick and I was left alone to take care of her while you and Dad continued to live your lives like nothing was happening. Then, she died and Dad threw himself into a bottle and then in front of a bullet and you just sort of forgot I existed.”
All humor vanished. “What? That’s not true! Everything I did was for us and what do you mean you had to take care of Mom?”
Vi turned away and moved to flopped down on her bed. “It’s like I said, Mom got sick and you went off with your friends and Dad stopped coming home. At least the first few years. Then Dad started gambling and Mom got sicker and you started staying home more. When she was finally at peace, you couldn’t get far enough away from me. It’s all right though. I was really angry about it for a long time, being abandoned and all, but I worked it out.”
It was a tossup what part of all that upset her more, the flat, emotionless tone or the weight behind what she was being told.
Vi had been five when their mother had gotten sick. The first couple of years, their mother had been well enough to carry on in whatever mothers did. It wasn’t until the third year that the cancer got too strong for the chemo to fight. By that time, they had already been told they would lose her and there was nothing anyone could do. Juliette remembered needing to get away, away from having to watch the person she loved slowly die before her eyes. She had thrown herself into Stan and her friends and let them help her not think about the bleak future ahead. It was the phone calls on the machine, the ones from the bank and collection agencies and the school that made Juliette begin to see she couldn’t keep running. That Vi and her mother needed her.
“Why did you never tell me?”
Vi shrugged. “I didn’t think it would matter. You hated me.”
“I never…” she trailed off, because as much as she loved her sister, she had also always hated her. From the moment Vi had been brought home, Juliette had never wanted her. “Vi…”
“It’s okay. I’m not angry anymore.”
Juliette frowned. “Why? I was a horrible sister.”
“Phil.” There was a softness to her tone when she said his name that prickled along Juliette’s neck. “Helped me realize a few things.”
Juliette blinked. “Phil?” She jerked a thumb over her shoulder towards the door.
“Phil-Phil?”