Damon, Banks, and Michael ran in and out of rooms, searching again. “Mads!” they called. “Octavia!”
I tucked the gun into the back of my pants and gestured to Kai. “Get his feet.”
“We need the police,” Emmy argued. “Don’t move him.”
“We’re not calling anybody until we find the kids,” Kai gritted out.
We weren’t sure how this happened. We needed to find out before we involved the cops.
“Octavia!” Damon bellowed, and I swore I could hear his frantic breathing from here.
“Wait, the cameras…” Rika burst out.
Spinning around, she ran to her office, her computer set up to access the street cams and home security. She had a view of nearly every inch of the town.
Kai and I dumped the body in her and Michael’s bedroom, closed the door, flipped over the carpet in the hallway to cover the blood, and ran after everyone else, charging into her office.
“Go back,” I heard Michael tell her.
Pushing buttons and turning a knob, she rewound the footage, playing back the night’s events. There weren’t any cameras inside the house, but they covered the exterior and the grounds. I guessed that would change after tonight. Michael would have the company here in the morning, adding extra security.
She stopped, seeing Mads and Octavia rushing out the side door of the kitchen, running frantically as if trying to escape, but…
A car was waiting. My heart lodged in my throat. Two men jumped out, and before the kids knew what was happening, they were thrown inside and the car raced off.
“No,” Damon gasped.
“What is it?” Winter cried.
He just held her close.
“Wait, wait, who is that?” Kai pointed to the blond sitting in the passenger side seat. “Zoom in!”
Rika rewound again, catching him as he got out of the car to help get the kids and paused the video, enhancing the shot.
Banks whimpered. “Ilia Oblonsky.”
Kai’s spine straightened, and he breathed hard. Ilia was an employee of Gabriel Torrance years ago. Banks had him thrown out of the country when she inherited her father’s estate.
“And who’s that?” Michael squinted at the other one who’d gotten out of the SUV.
“I can’t tell,” Rika replied.
But I stared at the brown head I’d know anywhere, because I knew him well.
My God.
“Taylor Dinescu,” I whispered.
Everyone turned to look at me, my stint in Blackchurch still rearing its ugly head.
“Jesus, fuck,” Damon muttered. “How did they find each other?”
I had no idea. Maybe there was Facebook group for people who hated us. A sinking feeling hit me, because I knew. I knew it years ago. He was a loose end I’d ignored, and I shouldn’t have.
But then Banks twisted around. “Kai?”
I followed her gaze, seeing Kai back out of the room, rage in his eyes.
“It’s my turn,” he told her. “I let you deal with him last time. Not this time.”
But before I could figure out what he meant, he tore from the room, and it took no time at all before we were all racing after him.
The ball still carried on downstairs, but instead of clearing the place or making some excuse to our guests, we didn’t waste another minute.
“Give me your phone,” Rika told Banks.
Without question, she handed it to her as we raced down the stairs. Tears spilled down Banks’s cheeks, but she didn’t make a sound otherwise.
“I’m logging you into the street cameras,” Rika told her, tapping away on her cell. “They turned right out of the gate about ninety seconds ago, probably headed toward town, but keep an eye on them and make sure. We’ll follow.”
Banks nodded, Rika handed her phone back to her, and everyone rushed through the front door, grabbing keys to cars on the way.
But I caught sight of something and stopped.
They all veered around me, emptying the foyer, but I stared at the grandfather clock, it’s pendulum frozen and the minute hand paused on nine minutes past ten.
Holding up my wrist, I checked my watch, seeing it was actually twenty-three minutes past the hour.
I glanced at the clock again.
“What is it?” Emmy rushed back up to me.
“Clock stopped.” I couldn’t breathe. “Ten-oh-nine. That’s when Reverie Cross died.”
I mean, I didn’t really believe that shit, but I also knew Madden was the only one who refused to light a candle on EverNight. Kind of weird.
She pulled me along, both of us running to the back doors of one of the SUVs, Kai and Banks piling into the front. Michael and Damon climbed into the other car with Winter and Rika, and Kai slipped the key in, pausing suddenly.
He tapped the digital clock, and I zoned in, seeing ten-oh-nine on the car clock, as well.
“What the hell?” Kai growled.
But he didn’t stop to worry. “How far ahead of us are they?” he asked his wife.
“Just reaching the village,” she told him, looking at her screen. “Hurry.”
We strapped ourselves in, and I shot a worried look to Emmy next to me.