Page 135 of The Twilight Theft

She moved closer. “And he warned me they’re looking into her background.”

“Which background? Dad?”

“Mum’s.” She leaned toward my ear, her voice barely a breath. “Her time with MI6.”

My step stuttered. I hadn’t heard that right. “Her what?”

“We swore we’d never dig into their past, Em,” she said, “but Fenix is.”

Our father had been in jail for espionage since I was twelve. He’d worked for CSIS and she worked as an accountant with the British High Commission in Ottawa. After Dad’s arrest, she’d left that job. After the sentencing, she’d moved us to Halifax. Yearly visits, no tears, and what did she do for a living after that? None of us knew.

Until she opened Reynolds Recoveries.

Scar, Brie, and I had promised each other we wouldn’t use our resources to find out. Someday, Mum would tell us the truth, and we’d wait. No scouring the dark web, no pressuring sources, no research.

Our family trip to London when I was fourteen included planning how to steal the Crown Jewels. We’d thought it was a funny game. In Paris the next year, we watched tourists milling about the Eiffel Tower and identified which ones weren’t protecting their bags well enough. A Louvre tour with discussions about how to detect forgeries, scavenger hunts around Dublin, and visiting banks in Switzerland.

Every year, the trips were moments for us to bond, but they became more serious as we grew up. Brie started getting nervous when Mum paid too much attention to someone. Scarlett started stretching her wings and taking the lead on interrogations. And Mum taught us how to read people. How to hide our emotions.

I didn’t want to know the truth. I wanted my mother to be an eccentric woman who loved the three of us unconditionally underneath her harsh exterior.

Scarlett went up the metal steps ahead of me, through the galley, and into the passenger cabin. Everyone was seated comfortably—Jayce and Drew on the divan in the mid-cabin, while Rav and Malcolm sat in the aft.

Fenix had taken me, but my family followed and got me out. Not just my blood family, but the family inside this jet. Reynolds Recoveries had done what they needed to do to save me.

I took a long step and caught up with Scarlett. I whispered to her, “I’m in.”

She nodded without looking at me and passed the men at the back. Pausing at the door to the private cabin, she laid a hand on Malcolm’s shoulder. He gave her a tight smile and stood. They slipped into the cabin and locked the door behind themselves.

I slid into a big seat opposite Rav. “Did Scarlett tell you about Monte Carlo?”

“The scarab?” Of course, he knew.

“Yeah. We’ve got a job to plan.”

Epilogue

Jayce

Thecarrolledtoa stop and I considered keeping my eyes shut. It was oh dark thirty and after a four-day whirlwind mission in Grand Cayman, I was exhausted. I’d texted Drew when we left the island, but hadn’t heard from him.

I wasn’t even sure what country he was in.

“Wake up, slacker.” Emmett nudged me from the driver’s seat. “I still need to drive home, so I’m not sitting in your driveway all night.”

“That’s your fault.” I stretched my arms and yawned. “I was going to grab a rideshare.”

Emmett chuckled, “Open your eyes already.”

They fluttered open, and the world came into focus. It was too dark outside. I lived in a condo in town, but that’s not where we were. Thick pines blocked out the view on two sides, opening up to a two-story house with gables and enormous windows. Beyond it… nothing.

This wasn’t right.

“Where are we?” I sat up straighter, swiveling in my seat to take in the long driveway behind us. “Is this where you bury the bodies?”

Emmett laughed and pointed to the house.

A porch light came on.

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