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.

Chris followed after

to reason with him. "What if that string of numbers was just a trick? Maybe it's meant to

dark

Warren and

She's not in Paris," Rupert said, his voice sharp as

enough

parking garage, far from

parked his motorcycle in a deserted

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

was blank, her

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

felt like announcing

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

walked toward the terminal. Suddenly, the sharp

tall, dark figure

scared him, was on edge. He stared

there, cigarette in hand, his stare

he asked, voice cool

I don't know what you're talking about," Caleb said,

tell

ground and ground it