Encore of the Avenging Muse (Sylvia and Rupert)

The hospital room was completely silent.

Rupert reeked of cigarettes, his eyes cold and fixed on the numbers glowing on the phone screen.

"What do the numbers before the 4 mean?" he asked, his voice low.

Naomi answered right away, not daring to hesitate. "1 means home, 2 is my work, 3 is leaving town."

She and her daughter had always looked out for each other; they had to be careful.

When Naomi was young, she'd been followed by a man. Later, her sweet, pretty daughter, Sylvia, had caught the attention of someone dangerous, too.

So the two of them came up with this code. If they ever got in trouble and couldn't call, they'd text these numbers.

Back then, Sylvia was just a kid. Their lives were simple: home and work, not many numbers to keep track of.

Edwin tried to guess, "You think Sylvia's been taken out of town?"

Naomi frowned. "If she was out of town, she'd use 4. She knows I'd understand.

She'd never mess up the code. Why would she send a 5?"

"Abroad," Rupert said flatly. He turned and walked out of the room.

and Chris followed after

the calm one, tried to reason with him. "What if that string of numbers was

dark and dangerous. "It's from her.

airline shows Warren and Fiona

in Paris," Rupert said, his voice sharp

was icy, enough to

garage, far from

his motorcycle in a

he grabbed Bridget's hand, kissed it, and smiled. "Bridget, from now

was blank, her

Caleb wasn't even a backup plan-just a fling, someone to pass

him felt like announcing

into Warren's twisted

the

a tall, dark figure ahead.

like nothing scared him, was on edge. He stared at

hand, his stare icy and dangerous.

go?" he asked,

you're talking

tell

the ground and ground