Page 86 of The San Marco Heist

I took the first half-step up to the entryway level, but Scarlett’s ridiculous heel caught on it, and she stumbled. I grabbed her elbow and steadied her.

Blue hair lurched forward at the same time, reaching for her. “Scarlett!”

Her body went rigid. And her mouth slowly fell open, along with her eyes.

His voice hadn’t been distorted. I recognized it.

Rav spat, “Get your ass out here! Now!”

“No.” Scarlett gripped my hand so tight her fingernails could have drawn blood. “No, it can’t be.”

Chapter 33

Scarlett

Someonewasholdingmyhand, keeping me upright. If I wanted to know who, I’d have to look away from the clown with the blue hair. The clown with the voice I knew. That had been my constant companion for years.

My stomach twisted and flopped, and I was sure I was going to either vomit, faint, or scream. I took a step toward him. It couldn’t be.

“Those damn shoes,” said Blue Hair. It was him.

I didn’t have to see his face to know. I let go of the hand which had held me up and took the few steps which separated me from the greatest lie of my life.

His scent was still the same. Some strange combination that reminded me of baby powder and musk. Not cologne, just him. I still had that scent on two shirts, so I knew it too well.

Greenie grabbed him by the shoulder and spun him around. “What are you doing? We’re almost there. We need to go.”

The blue-haired clown pulled off the mask and faced me.

“Noah,” I breathed. The tears clogged my throat, spreading up my sinuses until the pressure built so high in my eyes they leaked out. A thousand memories flashed through my brain. The jobs we’d done together, dinners with my friends, our engagement at Niagara Falls. Watching him go over the side of the bridge, to the river below. The funeral with the fake ashes.

I had nothing to say. No words formed in my brain.

Someone was talking behind me, maybe several someones, but I couldn’t make anything out. My head was swimming. Which one of my mother’s lessons was supposed to prepare me for this?

Someone grabbed my hand and tugged me backward. Rav? It was probably Rav. He was the one who always took care of me. He was the one who held me down while I watched Noah’s car go over the bridge.

A single word escaped my reeling brain. “How?”

The tugging on my arm switched to an arm around my waist that lifted me up, forcing me backward.

Noah sprang for me and grabbed both of my shoulders, but my protector pushed him away. “If you want to know the truth, meet me on San Michele at eleven o’clock tonight.”

Chapter 34

Scarlett

Byseveno’clock,Iwas still wired. Brie and Will had used the drone to follow the clowns, but with so many close buildings, overhangs, and covered walkways, they lost them. Not that it mattered, because if I wanted the details, I knew exactly where to be.

Scream, Scarlett. Break something. But whatever you do—Reynolds women don’t cry.No matter how many times I told myself that, the tears streamed down my face, as much an insult to my pride as discovering Noah was alive.

I picked up one of the sleek dining room chairs with its blue leather upholstery and carved wooden frame, heaving it into the air. Before I could carry through with smashing it, I let it drop to the floor and sank down next to it.

Alive. He was alive. The words were a dagger in my heart. Two years he’d been alive and never came for me. Never sent me a message. Didn’t come home. Left me to fucking mourn him.

If it had been amnesia, I could’ve forgiven him. He could have at least fucking lied and said it was amnesia. But no, he just spit out my name, plain as day, with no hesitation. What the hell had he been doing for the last two years?

Why kidnap my brother? Why not come directly to us? Why did he want the Codex? Why meet in Venice? Why San Michele?

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