The Rules for Disappearing (35 page)

My poor dad. Everyone, including me, assumed the worst of

him. “Well, that’s not true,” I say, firmly.

“We know. I told Elle there was no way your dad did anything

wrong.”

Great. Laura had more confidence in him than I did.

Elle continues her story. “She still acts like Mrs. Rich Bitch, though, eats lunch at the club, plays tennis every day. Total denial of what’s about to happen. Or that’s what Mom and her friend Susan were saying. The house was broken into twice and totally trashed.

Cops were all over the place for a while. It’s died down since then.”

Great. Just great.

“She plays tennis every day? Would she be playing now?” Ethan

asks.

Elle glances at the clock on the oven. “Yeah, I’m sure.”

“So no one’s there?” I ask.

“Just the maid.”

“That’s perfect.” Ethan’s rubbing his hands together like some S—

evil movie villain who’s just thought of the perfect plan to rule the N—

world.

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“I still have to get in there even if it’s just a maid.” I say.

“I know,” Ethan says. “Here’s what I’m thinking. . . .”

I walk next to Elle along the sidewalk. The plan sucks. I hate the plan. Ethan thinks it’s great in its simplicity, but I think he’s completely lost his mind at this point. Who volunteers to get in the middle of something as crazy as this? I look at Elle and think of Laura and Ethan in the car around the corner. Make that three

insane people.

Elle and I walk up to the Price house. Yes. Walk up to the front door. In broad daylight. And ring the doorbell.

I said the plan sucks.

A few minutes later a woman answers the door. It’s Carla, the

housekeeper the Prices have had forever. It will be a miracle if she doesn’t recognize me.

“Good morning, Carla. Sophie, my little toy poodle, ran away

and I thought I saw her take off into your back yard. Would you mind if we went back there and looked for her?”

Yes. This is also in our plan. We’re looking for Elle’s little dog.

Carla looks in my direction and I hold my breath. She doesn’t spare me a second glance.

“That’s fine, come on in.” She holds the front door open and we step inside. The second I pass through the door, I’m nauseous. The sights and sounds from that night come flooding back. I’m afraid I’m gonna be sick. We follow Carla through the house and I can see the office up ahead. It’s completely bare. I concentrate on taking deep breaths in and out until we get close to the doorway.

—S

“Sorry, this is kind of weird, but we’ve been walking around

—N

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looking for Sophie forever and I really have to pee. Do you mind if I use yours?” I cross my legs together and hop from foot to foot. I’m probably overdoing it but I’m so nervous, I really do need to go to the bathroom now.

Carla pauses a second and then points down the hall. “Second

door on your left.”

Oh my God, it worked.

Elle starts moving forward again, leading Carla to the back-

yard. I walk right past the bathroom and enter the office then stop dead and stare at the spot where Brandon hit the floor, dead. There’s no sign that anything horrible happened in this room, but I’m finding it hard to breathe. I catch sight of Ethan in my peripheral vision and run to pop open one of the windows. He’s waiting on the other side and climbs in.

“Let’s make it quick.”

I stare at the back wall. It’s huge and made of different-sized stones. I feel around, trying to bring back that exact memory. It was right behind the desk, but the desk is gone now.

“Tell me what we’re looking for,” Ethan whispers.

“I don’t know. I saw him put something in a hole in the wall and then lift a stone and shove it back in place.” I’m getting hysterical.

I’m terrified Carla will come looking for me any minute.

I run my fingers along the mortar of several stones. Nothing. I go over the area again and this time my nail gets caught on a small jagged piece.

“Ethan, look at this.”

S—

There is a tiny crack in the mortar that runs around an entire N—

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stone. Ethan pulls a small pocketknife from his pocket and flips out a small blade.

“You had to be a boy scout when you were little.”

He smiles as he digs the blade between the stone and mortar.

“How’d you guess?”

Ethan works the blade and slowly the stone starts to move. It’s loud and slow going. The grating sound echoes through the empty room. We both start pulling and inch by inch, it’s out. Ethan puts the stone on the floor and I look at it closely. The stone has a mortared edge around it. Without knowing what to look for, you’d have never noticed it could come out of the wall.

“Anna, I think this is what you came for.” Ethan pulls out several slim ledgers. Neatly written on the front of each one are sets of dates. “Looks like he’s been keeping these books for a while.”

I grab one of the volumes and flip it open. I don’t really understand what I’m looking at but I’m bursting inside. This has to be it!

And then another thought—this is too easy.

I hear footsteps coming down the hallway and chills race down

my spine. Ethan hands me the books and then gets the stone back into place. It grinds the entire way in. It doesn’t look perfect but it’ll do. I hand the books back to him then he stuffs them in a bag just as Agent Thomas walks in the room.

My heart sinks.

Ethan and I exchange worried looks and then I glance at the

window. Maybe Ethan can get away, make a run for it. I don’t know how we got busted, but there’s no way to keep the ledgers from the suits now. We’re totally screwed.

—S

—N

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Agent Thomas makes his way toward Ethan with his hand

extended.

“No.”

Agent Thomas turns to me, his eyebrows arched. “What do you

mean, no?”

“I mean, no. They weren’t there. I thought they were but they’re not.”

Ethan looks nervous and asks “Anna, who is this?”

“One of the suits,” I answer.

“I see we’re back to your real name. Seems like you two have

gotten pretty well acquainted on your way out here.” He takes a step closer to me. “It’s over. The man who killed Mr. Price and his son is dead.”

“Mr. Sanchez?”

Agent Thomas looks surprised, “You must have spoken to your

father, too. Yes, another unit raided his house this morning. We were closing in on him with other evidence that we uncovered and he put up a fight.”

My stomach roils when I hear this. If we could have lasted

another few days, this trip wouldn’t have been necessary at all.

“The good news is you’re out—your testimony is no longer

needed,” Agent Thomas says. He holds his hand out to Ethan again.

“The books, please.”

“We didn’t find anything, really. And even if Sanchez is dead—

what about the other people looking for us? You know, like the hit man or whoever is chasing after us.” I ask.

S—

Agent Thomas puts his hands behind his back and cocks his

N—

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head slightly. “We are aware that Sanchez had associates trying to learn your location, but now Sanchez is dead and there is nothing you can offer the government. Your only testimony was to connect Sanchez to the murders of Mr. Price and his son, Brandon.”

He holds his hand out again and says, “I’m not stupid, Anna. Please hand me the bag.”

Ethan looks at me and I shrug then nod toward Agent Thomas.

I never thought he’d really let us leave here with the ledgers but it was worth a shot. Maybe this nightmare is finally over.

“How did you find us?” I hate how pitiful my voice sounds.

He has a small smirk. “Coming home is all you’ve talked about.

A small contingent of us flew out here last night. I asked the guard to call me if Miss Perkins did anything unusual this morning. She should be at school right now. My partner is questioning her and the housekeeper in the other room.”

“So what happens now?” Ethan asks.

“Agent Williams is at the main guardhouse. He’s not going

to be happy you got past him. I’ll give him a call and he’ll make arrangements to get you both back to Louisiana.”

Back to Louisiana. A smile breaks out across my face and I feel like I can breathe easy for the first time in months.

“Is Elle in trouble?” I ask.

Agent Thomas ignores me and looks in the bag, fingering

through a few of the books. “We searched this place top to bottom.”

He looks at me. “Where were they?”

I nod my head toward the wall. “One of those stones slides out.”

Agent Thomas lets out a sharp laugh and drops the ledgers back

—S

—N

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in the bag. “You both stay put here while I call Agent Williams.”

Agent Thomas leaves the room and I sink to the floor. Ethan

drops down beside me, pulling me in close.

“At least it’s over,” Ethan says.

“Yes! It’s over.” I smile again and pull his face to mine for a kiss.

I snuggle in close while Ethan runs a hand up and down my

back. Then his hand stills. “Anna, something’s not right. How’d he know what we were here for? You said the Feds didn’t know you

knew where the ledgers were. And we didn’t mention it to him but he knew we had them.”

“Uh . . . Oh God, I don’t know.”

“And that agent has been gone for a long time and I don’t hear anyone else. Do you?”

Silence.

“No.”

We both jump up and race out of the room. I follow Ethan to the back of the house and we see two people lying on the grass outside.

“Elle!” I scream and run through the back doors. Elle and Carla are bound and gagged on the ground.

S—

N—

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RULES FOR DISAPPEARING

BY WITNESS PROTECTION PRISONER #18A7R04M:

Don’t ever think it’s over. Even when you’re sure it’s over, it’s not over.

Werace outside and Ethan drops down next to Carla while I go

directly to Elle. For a split second, I think they’re both dead until Elle moans when I pull the gag out of her mouth.

“Elle! Elle! Wake up!” I try to rip the plastic tie that’s binding her hands but it’s too tough.

I glance at Ethan and he’s got his pocket knife out and frees

Carla’s hands then turns to Elle. A quick swipe and her hands fall to her sides.

“Do you think that agent did this or the men working for

Sanchez?” Ethan asks.

I don’t know what to say. Or think.

He hands me the small blade and says, “I’m going to look around.

Maybe that agent got attacked, too.” But I’m thinking something with Agent Thomas is really wrong. Ethan’s right, how did he know what we were here for?

He leaves before I can beg him to stay. The sun is beating down

—S

and it’s hot but I can’t stop shivering. What in the hell just happened.

—N

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Elle starts moving around and I help her to a sitting position.

“Elle, are you okay? What happened?” I push her hair out of her face and feel a huge knot right behind her ear.

She moans and grabs her head. “I don’t know. We walked out-

side. Carla was right next to me and then all of a sudden she was falling. I reached for her and that was the last thing I remember.”

Carla whimpers but doesn’t wake up.

I scan the lawn, praying whoever did this is long gone. I almost hope Ethan finds Agent Thomas around the corner so he’s not what I think he is.

Ethan comes back, drops down beside me and says, “Nothing.

No sign of that agent or anyone else. Didn’t he say his partner was talking to Elle and Carla?”

I nod and ask, “What about Laura? Is she okay?” Laura was

waiting for us in Elle’s car around the corner, ready to help us make our get away.

“She’s fine. Never saw a thing. I sent her to the gate house and told her to wait there with the guard and call the cops.”

I hand Ethan his knife back and he stands over us, keeping

guard until I hear sirens. I can’t help but think of Agent Thomas and wonder who he really is.

The place is swarming with cops and suits. Agent Williams paces around the room in front of us. He
was
in the main guardhouse so it didn’t take him long to get here. He’s a big man with shocking white hair that is surprisingly long in the back. I remember Dad saying S—

Agent Williams was on his side about not forcing the return of my N—

memory and I wonder if he regrets that now.

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Elle and Carla are both being looked over by paramedics while

Laura is outside freaking out. They won’t let her in but I can hear her calling our names from the front yard.

Ethan and I sit with our backs against the wall in Price’s office.

I explain as best I can how everything went down, starting with our cross-country trip, and ending with Agent Thomas. Of course, I don’t mention that I wasn’t planning on handing the ledgers over to the suits.

It’s so quiet when I finish, I don’t think anyone even breathes.

Agent Williams finally explodes. “Who is this Agent Thomas?”