Page 10 of Framed

I was really going to have to trust him if I wanted to get out of here, then.

“Can I say goodbye to Sally? The other inmates?”Athena?I didn’t voice the latter, since I wasn’t sure if he would deem it appropriate. We weren’t supposed to get close to the guards.

“Sorry, but no one can know that you’ve left yet. We can’t risk giving anyone else a head start on finding you.”

“Can I go home first?” I asked. “I have to get some stuff from my room.”

I could still picture the notes and my mom’s heirloom necklace, all locked in a safe hidden behind a dresser in my closet. Since the news of the letters never came out, I knew no one had found them.

It would have changed everything if somebody found those notes.

It still could. But as much as I’d been forced into trusting Briggs about this, I didn’t trust him—or anyone—enough to get the notes out of that house for me. That was something I needed to handle personally.

From the look in his eyes, I already had my answer. Before he had a chance to decline, I leaned forward. “Please. It’s important.”

He stared at me, truly stared at me, for so long that I could hear the clock ticking on the wall behind him. He finally let out a long, jagged breath, and shook his head. “I can’t allow you to do that.”

I opened my mouth to protest, but he held up a hand to silence whatever undignified response I would have cobbled together. “Write down a list of whatever you need and where to find it, and I will have Athena gather the items, along with a few things to hold you over until you can get to a store. She will meet you at one of my hotels, not too far from the school. I took the liberty of booking you a room ahead of time—the address and the name it’s booked under are written on the inside of the envelope.”

I stared at the envelope in my hand and then back up at the man I wouldn’t have thought in a million years would offer me an out. How badly had I misjudged him?

Hopefully, my instincts were right now. Hopefully, he was being sincere about handing me this. A fresh start.

“Don’t thank me. Repay me by staying safe and not trusting anyone. You’re a smart girl; trust your instincts.”

“What about you?” I asked.

“No. Don’t even trust me, Scarlett. Assume that everyone you know is on the Sinclairs’ payroll.”

“What if I need to get in contact with you in the future?”

“You won’t.”

“But—”

He held up a hand to cut me off. “Do not contact me or anyone else on your phone. Don’t even turn it on. Toss it the second you get out of here. At the closest gas station, grab a burner phone andonlyuse it in case of emergencies. Do not underanycircumstances tell anyone where you are. In the event that you need to get in contact with me, only do it through my guy.”

“You mean the guy whose name you still haven’t told me?”

“He’ll find you when it’s time.”

Time forwhat? I wanted to ask. But I didn’t dare.

“What if I need to speak to you before then?” How could I trust him when he wouldn’t even tell me the name of the mystery man who he’d apparently assigned to watch over me?

Maybe because he’s going to all of this trouble just to give you a chance at a better life? I chastised myself.

“You won’t.”

I didn’t argue further. Instead, I silently said a prayer to whatever God would accept me. I hoped Briggs was right, because not only was my life at stake here, my future was too.

Forget throwing this chance away. Forget being confined any longer for a crime I didn’t commit. From the moment he’d told me about this opportunity, my fate had been sealed. There was no way I could walk away from this deal, and we both knew it.

“Okay. I’ll go.”

chapter three

Xavier

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