Page 56 of Silk and Steel

“It’s all right, Emory. It’s going to be all right. They didn’t get her. You hear me? They didn’t get her, and they won’t.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because I’m going to find them first.”

I pull away from him and look up at his face. He means it. Every word.

And god help me, I hope he does.

“Let’s see if the news has any more information for us,” he suggests.

I nod, and hug him again. He flips on the television. As I expected, the top story is the daycare. The daycare Hellena works at is one of the fancy, upscale ones. They have a water fountain on their playground with four spigots shaped like dolphins.

Someone tampered with the filter, adding in a small amount of a nerve agent. I almost faint with relief when the newscaster says it wasn’t a lethal dose, and the children are expected to recover.

“Fucking monsters,” Cole growls.

I’m inclined to agree. When my phone rings, I look at it eagerly, hoping it’s Hellena calling me back.

Instead, I see a restricted number. I tremble with the implications. Is this a spammer, or is it Julian?

I show it to Cole. He nods, and quickly gets on his own phone, contacting Platinum Security’s hacker expert Harlowe.

Maybe, just maybe, I can get him to stay on the line long enough to ping his location.

“Hello?” I say, trying to keep my voice neutral just in case it’s not Julian.

But it is.

“Hello, Emmy. Have you checked out the news today?”

“How could you do this, Julian?”

“Why, whatever are you talking about?”

“You know what I mean! Kids, Julian. Children!”

“Oh, Banner was careful. They won’t die. I mean, probably not. It was just a message. A message I expect you received loud and clear. If you’d been a good girl and listened to me, none of those kids would be sick and your sister wouldn’t be in danger of losing her job.”

“Why would she lose her job over something your monstrous friend did?”

“Guilt by association. You know how it is in this town. Reputation is everything. Your sister is damaged goods, now. No school is going to hire her. I hear the fast food places are paying twenty bucks an hour, though, so…you know. Jackpot.”

Cole makes a gesture for me to keep him talking. I try to calm myself.

“You’re not going to get a rise out of me that easily, Julian. I’m immune to your word twisting at this point. How in the Hell are you getting a maniac like Banner to do your bidding?”

“Money. Lots of it. Just because I went to prison doesn't mean I’m not still rich. Sure, the police froze my assets, but only the ones they knew about.”

“You just have an answer for everything, don’t you, Julian?”

“You’re damn right I do. Come on, Emory, we both know how this is going to end.”

“We do?”

He snickers, and it makes my skin crawl.

“Oh yes. Sooner or later you’re going to realize I was the best thing that ever happened to you.”

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