Page 56 of Twisted Empire

“Bingo,” I murmured, and then raised my voice to carry across the hall. “There’s an office room here that could have some useful records.”

“We’ll check it out as soon as we’ve gone through this crap,” Slade called back.

I sat on the edge of the desk with my back to the wall where I could easily keep an eye on the door and popped open the laptop. A window came up asking for a password.

Okay, time to get to work. I set my gun on the desk next to the computer and dove in.

My fingers darted over the keyboard, opening up the functions that would let me bypass the protection. I was about halfway through the sequence when a thump carried from upstairs, followed by a shout.

A shout in a female voice. Not Maddie’s, but one I recognized.

It was Mom’s.

I froze for an instant with a lurch of my heart, and then I threw myself off the desk, tucking the laptop under my arm.

I hurtled up the stairs, racing as fast as my pulse, and only slowed to get my bearings when I reached the upper hall. Beckett’s low, even voice was carrying from a doorway near the end. “I don’t want to hurt you. We’re here tostopanyone else from getting hurt.”

A scoffing sound answered him, wordless but with enough of a voice to it that I knew it was my mother. I hurried down the hall.

When I reached the doorway, I stalled in my tracks, my heart stuttering all over again.

The large room was set up like a combination bedroom and study. A queen-sized bed with a sleigh bedframe and matching oak vanity stood at one end. A heavy bookcase full of tomes that looked like they belonged in the university library stood against the wall across from the door. A narrow desk squatted kitty-corner from it.

Mom was poised by the foot of the bed, her hands raised but her mouth twisted into a sneer. Beckett had only come a couple of steps into the room. He was pointing his gun straight at her.

It was impossible to fully describe the barrage of emotions that swept through me at the sight of my mom—in general and in that position. Part of me wanted to run to her protection, even now. Part of me wanted to yell at her that she deserved Beckett’s hostility after everything she’d done. Horror and loss and anger and the slightest flicker of hope all whirled inside me.

Beckett’s gaze never left her, but he’d obviously noted my arrival. “I won’t shoot her as long as she doesn’t force the issue, Logan.”

From the stone-cold expression on Mom’s face, it was possible she would. She might be considering leaping at him and wrestling him for the gun, and I doubted that would have ended well.

But then her gaze slid to me, and a little shiver ran through her. Her lips pulled back from their flat line into a pained frown.

She still cared, at least a little.

I had to use that sliver of concern, not let it win me over. Maybe there could be some kind of reconciliation down the line, but not anytime soon.

Her hands were empty, no sign of weapons protruding from her fitted slacks or silk blouse. If she had anything in her pockets, it couldn’t be very large.

I took a gamble, set the laptop on the desk by the door, and approached her with slow, careful steps. Her eyes widened, a hint of moisture shimmering in them.

“Logan,” Beckett said in a warning tone, but he didn’t move to stop me. I was careful not to step into his line of fire. I didn’t trust this woman anywhere nearthatmuch.

When I was close enough, Mom raised her hand to touch my cheek. I stopped, swallowing thickly as her fingertips grazed my skin.

“My boy,” she murmured. “It is good to see you again, even like this.”

She didn’t want to hurt me. Maybe I was the only person that could be said about other than Doom’s Seed.

I had to do this. I had to try. Even if it sent a jab of guilt through my gut in spite of everything.

I turned back toward Beckett, which also happened to angle me so that my hip pocket with my phone was blocked from Mom’s view. I tugged it out surreptitiously, just far enough to tap the controls I needed, and tucked it back inside in the space of a few seconds.

“Leave us alone,” I said at the same time. “I need to talk to my mom privately, just the two of us.”

Beckett hesitated, even though I knew he’d caught my move with the phone and probably guessed what I was doing. “Logan, are you sure—?”

“Yes,” I interrupted. “It’s fine. There are some things we should keep between family.”

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