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

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

on his phone, his eyes dark

Ms. Lloyd leaving the city or the country. But the airline shows Warren and Fiona boarded their flight to Paris today. How could they have taken Ms. Lloyd with

said, his voice sharp

icy, enough to make

far from

parked his motorcycle in a deserted

Bridget's hand, kissed it, and smiled. "Bridget, from now on, it's just you and me. We've

her eyes

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

like announcing she'd

into Warren's twisted hands-she'd never have a

terminal. Suddenly, the sharp

tall, dark figure ahead. Fear

like nothing scared him, was

hand, his stare icy

go?" he asked,

you're talking about," Caleb said, pulling Bridget

tell me," Rupert

ground and ground it