Page 51 of Once a Villain
“It’s all right,” Marguerite reassured her. “Tom can be trusted. And he might need the whole context to decrypt it.”
The way she said it, with complete confidence in Tom’s discretion, made Joan realize again that there’d been a whole operation here before they’d arrived in this timeline. A small one, perhaps, but an efficient one. And Joan and the others had disrupted it....
This time, as the message played, Joan found herself watching Nick’s counterpart as much as listening to his words. His solemnity and bearing reminded her of the heroic version of him she’d first met.
She glanced atherNick. Behind his glasses, with his hair styled differently, he truly did seem like someone else. He was frowning slightly as he watched; Joan wondered if he was thinking about his counterpart’s scars. Wondering who had done that to him.
“Hmm,” Tom said when the numbers flashed up at the end.
9 1894 1, 9 1671 6, 7 161 7, 12 108 6, 2 2229 4, 14 56 6, 11 2141 5, 3 3199 6
“We can write them down,” Marguerite said.
“That’s not necessary.” Tom handed Marguerite back the wad of cash she’d given him.
“You can’t solve it?” she said, disappointed.
“It’s a book cipher. I’d put money on it. First number in each group is the chapter, second is the line, third is the word. To break the code, we’d need a copy of the book used to encrypt it. Not just the book—the exact edition.”
Joan looked at her Nick again. He lifted one shoulder at her. He didn’t know what the book could be.
“Looks like a long book, if that helps,” Tom offered. “Those are large numbers....”
“Running out of time... ,” Marguerite said. “Why would he say that? And what doesdamagemean?”
“Andlocking things down... ,” Jamie said. “Why does that seem familiar?” he murmured, almost to himself.
“The numbered line must provide the full context,” Ruth said.
“Or maybe we’re misunderstanding something,” Tom said.
But Marguerite frowned, giving Aaron a long look, as if she suspected he was keeping information from her deliberately, perhaps to protect her.
And maybe his counterparthadbeen protecting her because, to Joan, the phrasing of the message implied an advanced plan that hadn’t involved Marguerite.You’re alone in this now. You have what you need.
“Why don’t you check the Nightingale library,” Aaron said to Marguerite now. “I’ll check the Oliver one.”
“We should speak to the Lius as well,” Jamie said. “If one of us has read the book, we won’t need the physical item. We’ll be able to break the code from memory.”
“Who are the Lius?” Tom said, sounding curious.
Silence followed. Outside, water lapped at the boat, rocking it. Jamie reached for the wall to steady himself. “You don’t know the Liu family?” he said slowly.
Tom’s head tilted; he’d heard the note of horror in Jamie’s voice, and he didn’t understand it. “I’m sorry—should I know them?”
The hairs rose at the back of Joan’s neck. They’d searched for Liu territory last night and hadn’t been able to find it. They’d assumed that the Lius had moved somewhere else in the city. They’d been planning to reach out to them later today. But Marguerite’s and Tom’s confusion said that something was wrong.
“They’re a family of monsters,” Jamie said.
“I’ve never heard of a monster family with that name before.” Marguerite’s voice was gentle. She could see that Jamie was distressed, but like Tom, she didn’t know why.
“But...” Jamie’s voice died in his throat. Joan could see the question all over his face.Then where is my family?
“We’re almost at the Nightingale dock,” Tom said softly. It hadn’t taken long to cross the river.
“I should go,” Marguerite said, still in that gentle tone, as Tom jumped out to tie up the boat. “Projector off!” she added, and the floating numbers vanished.
Aaron stood when she did, and his mother hugged himand kissed him quickly on each cheek. For a second, he looked shaken—maybe remembering this affection from his own mother. Joan had a feeling he hadn’t been hugged by a member of his family since she’d died.
