Chapter 19

 

The summons came as Julia was getting out of the shower. Five minutes later, the team were assembled in Patricia’s living area. They were sombre and Patricia was shaking—Esteban had been in touch.

“Did you sleep at all?” Julia said as she hugged her gran tightly.

“No, but we’re almost finished reading the textiles. We’ll have an exact location soon.”

“You need a nap first, and some food.”

“No.” Patricia kissed her head before stepping back. “First we need to watch Alice again.”

“Did they say anything or just give you another internet address?”

“They said they wanted the mummy and I told them I needed more time. They said I could have more time, but they had a message from Alice first. That’s when a text with another internet address came through.”

“Elle?” Julia called. “Is it a different address?” In other words, was Alice still being held in the same location?

“Yeah.” Elle stopped hooking her laptop up to the TV for a second to hold Julia’s eyes. Julia saw the same worry she felt reflected back at her. “I’m going to try for a trace while they broadcast. Hopefully, we’ll get a lock on the new IP.”

The computer genius was dressed in tiny red shorts and a white t-shirt with a red printed photo of Princess Leia wielding a gun and the words A Woman’s Place Is in the Resistance. Julia was wearing shorts too. Ones she’d bought in La Paz airport after the dress fiasco. Unlike Elle’s, Julia’s were what her sister liked to call “mom shorts”—because they came almost to her knees.

“You about ready?” Elle asked Patricia.

“Yes. Of course.”

But Julia could see her gran’s hands shake.

“Will this be the same as last time?” Julia asked Elle. “Are we just watching?”

“I think so. I won’t enable any cameras or sound at our end unless we have to.”

Julia reached out to put a hand on her gran’s back, offering comfort, as her eyes automatically found Joe’s. He was standing by the door, talking in whispered tones to Ryan and Callum, but he didn’t take his eyes from her. It was reassuring, and she somehow drew strength from his attentiveness.

“Right, I’ve typed in the address. I’m going to press enter. Pick your spot and settle down,” Elle said.

Joe immediately came over to stand beside Julia. He didn’t touch her, and she was grateful for that; it would have shattered the thin control that was keeping her sane while she waited to see Alice at the mercy of a madman. Julia felt someone else come up, and was pleased when Ed took her gran’s hand in his.

“This will be over soon,” Ed said to Patricia. “You’ll feel better once you get back to work on the textiles. You’re doing a great job, so close to finishing. Concentrate on that instead of this. It will help. You’ll both be much safer once the gold is in our hands.”

Gran gave him a weak smile.

The large TV blinked on, and they were watching another nondescript brick room. The room was mostly dark, the single bulb illuminating a cone of space beneath it.

Alice staggered into the light, as though someone pushed her. Julia folded her arms to stop from shaking. Alice was rumpled and dirty. Her hair was messy and there were dark circles under her eyes that made her seem gaunt.

“Patricia? Patricia darling, I’m sorry I haven’t been in touch. We’ve been busy scouting locations for my new show.”

Julia felt Joe tense at her side, his attention firmly on the screen.

“I met the new director.” Alice’s smile was wide and terrifyingly manic. “He’s had a lot of experience making TV shows and he’s very powerful within the industry. I’m lucky to be working with him. He’s going to make me a star for sure.”

Her act was fooling no one. She wasn’t even putting any effort into it this time. The whole thing was desperate and a touch hysterical. It filled Julia with a cold sort of dread that seeped into her bones. She felt Joe’s arms wrap around her and his front press against her back, before she even realised he’d moved. She’d been wrong—his touch didn’t destabilise her. It made her stronger. And she needed his strength while she watched helplessly as the terrified Alice tried to be brave.

“The new boss, Mr. Esteban.” Alice’s voice faltered, and Callum cursed under his breath.

Julia felt Joe’s arms flex and realised that Alice knowing her captor’s name wasn’t a good thing.

“Mr. Esteban”—Alice cleared her throat—“wants to remind you that you need to deliver his mummy.” There was no joke this time. All attempts to play a part had vanished.

Alice’s eyes kept straying off camera, and she visibly paled.

“H-he wants you to understand that time is running out.” Suddenly her eyes went wide. “No,” she said. “No.” She backed away from the camera.

Julia stopped breathing. Joe’s hold tightened.

Arms appeared out of the darkness behind Alice. A man with a mask. He held her upper arms and jerked her back into a chair.

“No! No! I did what you wanted. I told her.” She looked at the camera, frantic now, tears streaming down her face. “I told you, Patricia. You heard me, I know you did. I told you.” She started shaking her head frantically.

Julia curled her hands around Joe’s arm and held on tight. The world stopped. Tilted. She became disorientated as she tried to make sense of what she was seeing.

“What are they doing?” Patricia was panicked. “What are they doing to her?”

Julia watched in horror as they strapped Alice’s wrists to the arms of the chair. Alice was crying hysterically now, shouting nonsense, kicking her legs out. Struggling. Another man appeared in the frame and fastened her ankles to the legs of the chair.

The man behind Alice grabbed a handful of her hair and tugged her head back until she screamed. Julia recoiled, her nails digging into Joe’s arm. Inside, she was screaming along with Alice. The masked man held Alice’s head by her hair. The other man was holding her knees. A third masked man appeared on the left. He held something in his hand.

Julia saw a glint a millisecond before he used the object in his hand.

Garden shears.

There was no hesitation when he grabbed hold of Alice’s hand and clipped off the small finger.

“Fuck!” Joe roared as Alice’s blood-curdling scream filled the room.

Julia’s knees gave out. She couldn’t rip her eyes from the horror on the screen. Joe spun her, blocking her view with his body, but he couldn’t stop her from hearing Alice’s agonised sobs. Or the words of the man who spoke when Alice fell deathly silent.

“For every day we do not have the mummy, we will remove a body part. How much of your friend we return is up to you. I will contact you tomorrow.”

Julia was shaking so badly that she couldn’t stay upright. There was a commotion in the room. Noise. Voices. Shouting. All Julia saw was the blood. Red and pouring from Alice’s hand. Blood. So much blood. Her ears rang with Alice’s scream of shock and pain.

Her finger. Oh Lord. Her finger.

“Tea,” Joe barked, and Julia felt herself being lifted.

Next thing she knew, she was sitting on Joe’s lap on the sofa. She was shaking hard. No—the thought penetrated the grim loop in her mind—not shaking, shivering. Just as she realised that was what she was doing, someone placed a blanket over her and Joe tucked it around them.

“This is my fault. I did this.” Julia rocked against Joe. “We should have handed over the mummy as soon as we found it. Alice would have been fine if we’d given him the mummy.”

“Shh, baby.”

She barely registered the words. “I thought I was so smart. Find the treasure; hand that over instead. I wasn’t smart. I was arrogant. This is my fault. I hurt Alice.”

“Where is that tea?” Joe barked.

“I hurt Alice. I did it. Me.” She rocked harder.

Strong arms tightened around her.

“Stop it!” A barked order snapped through her rising panic. Her eyes shot to Joe.

“Joe?” she whispered.

His hand clasped in her hair. “This wasn’t you.”

She tried to shake her head. “My plan. It was my plan.”

“No.” His grip tightened, bringing her focus to him, forcing her out of her mind. “This is all on Esteban. Not you. Your plan is good. This is all on him. Do you hear me?”

She felt tears rolling down her cheeks as she clung to Joe—her lifeline.

“We should have given him the mummy.”

“He would still have hurt Alice. It’s what he does. You know that. You did the research. Think.”

“Her finger, Joe.” Her voice was a trembling mess.

“I know, baby, I know. But if we’d given him the mummy, he would have come after your gran and Alice would have died. At least now, she’s still alive and there’s a chance of saving her. This isn’t on you. It’s on him.”

Julia buried her face in his chest and sobbed as his words penetrated. She knew he was right. But it hurt so bad.