The Rules for Breaking (23 page)

“I take it Ethan and your sister are on their way out of town.” He’s so calm and cold sounding. No trace of emotion.

“Yes,” I answer.

“Do you need a reminder of what’s at stake?”

Mom.

“No. We’re clear.”

As much as I hate them both, I need to play along right now, at least until this is over. “I was the original contract—not them. You don’t need anyone else. Just me.”

A flicker of something I don’t recognize, maybe smugness, crosses Thomas’s face before he hides it away.

Thomas takes a step in my direction and I fight the urge to take a step back. I refuse to look weak in front of him.

“I hope that brave front you’ve put up doesn’t crumble. Why don’t you go back upstairs for now.” It’s not a question.

I’m back in my room before I loosen the death grip on the gun hidden in my jacket. The bed is in the same shape it was when Ethan crawled out of it. I bury myself in the covers, pulling them up over my head, and make sure my head falls into the same indention on the pillow. I inhale the scent of him that’s left behind.

Being here, in this bed, by myself, I can’t fight the urge to call him and make sure they left New Orleans. I have to assure myself that we didn’t fall headfirst into a trap. Using the phone Will gave me, I call Catherine. She answers on the first ring.

“Anna! Is that you?”

“Yes. Did y’all get out of town?”

“Yes. We’re on I-10. Why did you go back?”

“It’s the only way to end this for good, Catherine.”

Silence. And then she says, “Well, I’m so angry with you. You better come back home in one piece. Ethan woke up a few minutes ago mad as hell. Here he is.” And then there’s a muffled sound before Ethan gets on the other line.

“I can’t believe you did this.” I sense worry in his voice and anger, too.

“I’m sorry I lied to you. Again. But I knew you’d never leave without me. You’re hurt, Ethan. And this problem is not going away. We both know it. And Thomas has someone watching Mom. He showed me pictures….”

I hear Teeny begging to talk to me in the background and Ethan promises her she can as soon as he’s done.

“So, you’re just going to trust Thomas? Walk right into whatever plan he has?”

My heart is breaking because I know my chances of surviving this are slim. I feel so alone and powerless and scared. More scared than I thought possible. But the only thing that is keeping me from completely falling apart is that Ethan and Teeny will be okay and hopefully my parents and the Landrys, too.

“This has to end, Ethan. I want nothing more than to be in the car with you right now, but then what? We’ve talked about this for hours—who do we trust? Where do we go?”

He’s doesn’t reply.

“I’m so sorry about everything. Sorry I lied to you. Sorry your family is stuck on an island in Arkansas. Sorry you got shot. Sorry Teeny has been traumatized. And if this all works out, I totally understand if you never want to see me again.”

I’m trying to hold the tears in but am not succeeding.

“Oh, Anna. Please don’t cry. Please. This is killing me. You are a victim of this as much as the rest of us. That’s what’s making me crazy—your need to let all of this rest on your shoulders. And you’re not getting rid of me that easily. I may be mad about what you’ve done but you’re still stuck with me.”

“Are they taking you to a doctor?” I ask.

“We’re headed to Baton Rouge. Catherine’s uncle lives there. He’s a doctor.” I hear the pain in his voice.

“Please don’t be mad at Will. I really didn’t give him a choice. Is Teeny okay?”

“Yeah, she wants to talk to you. I’m passing the phone to her but I want to talk to you again when she’s done. Don’t hang up.”

“Okay.”

My heart is thumping by the time Teeny gets on the phone. I’m not sure if I can handle hearing her voice right now.

“Sissy, why did you leave us? You said we’d stick together. What if something bad happens and you’re by yoursel
f
?”

And then my heart cracks wide-open. “Teeny, it’s going to be fine. I’ll be back with you in a couple of days. I promise. Can you help take care of Ethan?”

“Yeah. I’m really pissed at you right now. Catherine is, too. And Will. He’s mad you put him in that position. You managed to piss off this entire car of people. Especially Ethan. He’s the most mad. He tried to crawl out of the backseat and punch Will for leaving you. Will says he’s gonna chew your ass out when he sees you next.”

I let out a quick laugh. “Yeah, I deserve that. I’m sorry everyone is mad. And I love you very much, okay?”

“Okay. Here’s Ethan.”

“Will you keep this phone on?” he asks once he’s back on the phone.

I look at the screen and there’s only 45 percent battery left. “I’m gonna have to power it off if I want the battery to last.”

“Teeny’s gonna stay at Catherine’s family’s house until this…is all over. Once I get checked out by the doctor, I’m coming back to New Orleans.” And then he pulls the phone away and yells to everyone in the car, “And if anyone tries to stop me, I will beat the shit out of them with my one good arm. I’m talking to you, Will.”

He gets back on the phone. “Promise me you’ll try to get out of there. Don’t stay and go through whatever Thomas has planned. I don’t trust him and I don’t trust Tyler, either. Get out of there in the morning then call me and tell me where to come get you. Don’t do this, Anna.”

“He’ll hurt Mom if I leave. Try to get to you and Teeny, too. I promise I’ll be careful. I really wish you’d stay in Baton Rouge but I know you won’t. If you come back, stay out of the Quarter until you hear from me. Mateo is still here somewhere.”

He lets out a heavy breath of air. I know he’s upset that I didn’t tell him what he wants to hear. “Do you still have the gun?”

“Yes.”

“God, I wish we could have gotten some more practice in. Listen, there are plenty of bullets and I put one in the chamber. A Glock doesn’t have a mechanical safety. If you pull the trigger, it will fire, so be careful. Keep the silencer off; you want people to come running when you start firing. You don’t have to do anything for the next bullet to load, just keep pulling the trigger.”

“Okay. Pull the trigger. Keep firing.”

“And Anna, when you shoot a gun because you’re in danger for your life, you shoot to kill. Hold it steady, aim for the chest, and keep your eye on the target. Do you understand? Use all of the bullets if you have to.”

I swallow hard and realize my hands are shaking. “Okay.” I didn’t tell him I stood over Mateo’s body and couldn’t pull the trigger.

“I love you, Anna. More than you know. You gotta come back to me, okay? We’ll figure the rest of it out later, but you have to come back to me.”

“I love you, too. That’s why I had to do this. I can’t risk you getting hurt or dying. That’s the only reason I lied was to keep you safe. I hope you know that.”

“I’m scared to death to get off the phone with you,” he whispers.

“Me, too. But I don’t want to use up too much battery. I’m going to power off the phone but I’ll call you in the morning.”

“You promise?”

“Yes, I promise. I love you.”

Then I end the call. And cry myself to sleep.

A slamming door has me jumping up in the bed. It’s still dark out but I can tell it won’t be long before the sun starts to rise. I tiptoe to the French door and crack it open. It’s cool out, and windy. The plants in the courtyard are doing a rhythmic dance back and forth.

I catch a glimpse of Thomas walking across the courtyard toward a small wooden door in the corner. He opens it but doesn’t move away. By his hand gestures I can tell he’s talking to someone.

I move out on the balcony for a better look. The person on the other side of the door steps through the opening but I can’t make out any details.

Then I hear a door open and close below me. It’s Tyler, heading to Thomas and the unknown person. The other person moves deeper in the shadows while Thomas meets Tyler halfway across the courtyard. He passes a cell phone to Thomas and I hear a one-sided phone call in muffled tones, but can’t make out the exact words. Tyler takes the phone back once Thomas is finished.

Thomas leans in close, talking quietly to Tyler. Tyler nods then heads to where the car is parked and I hear it crank.

I don’t know what time it is but it’s got to be close to dawn. Where is he going?

Thomas waits until the car is gone before he moves back to the door. Whoever is there waiting, Thomas doesn’t want Tyler to see him.

I move down the balcony but keep my back to the wall. Thomas finally moves aside and lets the other person step inside, light from the courtyard falling across his face. My knees go weak the second I see him. He’s got a scarf wrapped around his neck but I know what’s underneath it.

Cross tattoos.

Rules for disappearing
by Witness Protection prisoner #18A7R04M:

Don’t forget who is a friend and who is a foe….

New rule by Anna Boyd:

They’re all foe. Don’t trust anyone. There are no exceptions to this rule.

my God, I was so stupid.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

They stop walking close to where I’m hiding on the balcony above them, then I hear faint steps coming up the outside stairs.

As quickly and quietly as I can, I shut the door and dive into the bed, faking sleep. I sense a shadow move across my window and it takes everything in me to relax my body.

As soon as I hear Thomas making his way back downstairs, I slide out of the bed and creep through the door. There is no way in hell I’m about to miss what’s going on.

Once Thomas is back in front of Mateo, he motions him to sit down in one of the chairs.

Are they friends? What is going on?

So this is why he wasn’t worried about me making noise in the convent or taking Ethan and Teeny out of here. He knew there was NO ONE out there trying to kill us.

I peek through a gap in the balcony floor and watch them. Mateo’s posture might be relaxed but his face tells a different story.

Whatever they are, I don’t think they’re friends.

“So tell me, where are they now?” Thomas asks Mateo.

“At a private residence in Baton Rouge. Records show the house belongs to a Dr. Patrick Alexander.”

Oh, shit. He knows where they are.

“And the boy’s injuries?”

“He hasn’t left the house. I’m assuming if the doctor thinks his condition is serious, he’d get him to a hospital.”

And there’s a drastic change in Thomas’s personality. He looks much more like the man I knew in Natchitoches when he was trying to gain my trust as a federal agent. From what I can tell, he even seems to be smiling.

Not only is he a sociopath, he must have multiple personalities. Or is this part of the game? Is he making Mateo feel comfortable just like he did with me in Natchitoches?

“And why exactly did you shoot him? That wasn’t part of the plan—you were just supposed to locate them. I wanted them back unharmed.”

Mateo comes halfway out of his chair when he answers, “That son of a bitch kicked me! Twice. And then he rushed me. He’s lucky I didn’t pop him in the head.”

“No, you were the only one popped in the head,” Thomas says with a chuckle.

He actually chuckled.

Mateo doesn’t crack a smile, just pulls his hair back showing a row of stitches. “When this is over, I intend to repay the compliment.”

I almost vomit.

“They should have never had that much time on the outside,” Thomas says. He looks back to the balcony and I press myself farther into the wall.

“You shouldn’t have lost them. And if you would have put a tracker on them that was easy to follow, I would have found them a helluva lot sooner.”

Tracker? He put a tracker on us? This was a big mistake. I knew something else was going on, but this is so much worse than I thought!

Thomas stiffens. “I wouldn’t have lost them if it wasn’t for you. I told you not to come to Ursuline.”

“And I told you before, be careful how you talk to me,” Mateo replies. “I was coming here, and it’s hard to do that without passing the convent. I stopped to see if you needed help when I saw the crowd.”

We’re close to Ursuline. Really close.

“Anna made a spectacle of herself. The rumors worked against me. And Tyler freaked out like a five-year-old girl. I could have beat him to a pulp for being so stupid.”

“How’d you get them back?”

“Anna called Ty. Apparently the lovesick bastard kept the same number just in case she called. It’s almost pathetic but at least it worked out for us.”

Mateo stands up and pulls a package out of his pocket. “I retraced their steps to a pawnshop. Once I made it clear I wasn’t leaving until I got what they pawned, the greaseball who owns the place finally turned it over. This is how they had the money for a hotel room. And by the way, that tracker only told me they were in the building…It didn’t give me a read on the room.”

Thomas opens the package and pulls out the letters, picture frame, and the pocket watch. “What is this?”

“Some old shit from the convent. Dude nearly pissed his pants when I took it from him and destroyed the footage of the kids from the security cameras. I know you hate leaving any sort of trace behind.” Mateo gets up and paces near the table. I push farther back, praying he doesn’t spy me up here.

“One problem,” Mateo says. It looks like he’s struggling with what he wants to say. “When I woke up after she cracked that bottle over my head, my gun was gone.”

Thomas puts everything back in the bag and asks, “What do you mean gone?”

“The gun is gone,” Mateo bites out.

The difference between Thomas and Mateo are obvious. Whatever Mateo is feeling shows in his face, his movements, and his voice. But Thomas is completely different. Right now, he looks calm and relaxed but I know it’s not real. I wonder if Mateo knows that.

Thomas waits a moment before changing the subject. “And what about Williams? Where is he?”

“In Mandeville. Didn’t think you’d want him in the Quarter just yet, but he’s close enough to be here within a few minutes. He’s about to blow a gasket trying to figure out what’s going on and where the boy is. The last message I sent said that he would get instructions today about where to meet. And as far as I can tell, he hasn’t called anybody yet. Too scared about what will happen to the boy.” Mateo laughs and I instantly feel sorry for Agent Williams. He must be in hell wondering how his grandson is doing.

“And how is the boy?” Thomas asks. “You’re not to touch him, remember?”

“He’s fine, but I think you’re making a mistake there. Just think how
useful
he could be if we kept him a while.”

It’s the way he says
useful
that makes my skin crawl. Thomas may be a cold-blooded killer but Mateo seems pure evil.

“This is my show so my call. Don’t touch him,” Thomas says in a relaxed tone. I wish I knew what he was thinking. “And what about Riley?”

Who’s Riley?

“Yeah. All set.”

“And no problems with the group in Arkansas?”

I slide down the wall. Is he talking about our families?

“It’s getting pretty tense but they’re still on the island. Checked the webcam a few hours ago.”

Mateo waits a moment before saying, “I’m surprised you let the other two go. Seems like you’re getting soft.”

There’s a threat there that even I can see. “Again, not your concern. I will clean up those loose ends. You don’t need to worry about them.”

“Everything that happens here is my concern.”

I can’t breathe. I can’t believe how stupid I was. Ethan and Teeny aren’t safe…not at all.

I’m waiting for one of them to throw a punch but Mateo finally relaxes. “So, it’s still on for this afternoon?” he asks.

“Yes. Three p.m. Everything has to be ready by then. And Hammond, where is he?”

“Close. Still in the Quarter. He still thinks he’s communicating with Williams instead of yours truly. Said he saw the kids near Café du Monde and they ran from him. He couldn’t understand why.” Mateo pulls a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket, offering one to Thomas.

He accepts the smoke and says, “Good. For this to work, he needs to be killed at the site. We’ll bring him in after we’ve finished with Vega. Once they find the pictures and reports, Hammond’s guilt will be sealed.”

Hammond isn’t the mole? He chased us but he wasn’t trying to hurt us. God, we were so naive. Thomas just wants the agency to
think
he’s the mole. So who is it?

“When do you want Williams to show?”

“By three thirty it should be done. We just need to make sure it’s laid out just right.” A thin stream of smoke drifts up from Thomas and hangs suspended in the air in front of me.

“And Anna?”

“I promised Ty she wouldn’t get hurt.”

Mateo chuckles and shivers race down my spine. “She’s going to get hurt, no doubt about it. I’m not risking everything for her to run back home and spill her guts to anyone who will listen. There will only be three people who know what really went down here—me, you, and Riley.”

Thomas takes a long drag. “I’ll get him out of town before any of this starts. He’s so overemotional where she’s concerned. I should have trusted my instincts and gotten rid of her in Arizona. He’s always been weak, but I’ve protected him for too long. Maybe if she gets caught in a little cross fire it will toughen him up.”

I was so stupid.

“Yeah, but if he wouldn’t have screwed up, we’d still be waiting for the right time to make our move. We just bumped this takeover up a few years thanks to him.” Mateo crushes his cigarette out and scoots closer to Thomas. “And how do I know you won’t try to screw me over when the dust settles?”

Thomas laughs. “You don’t. But what I’m offering you is worth the risk. Am I right?”

“I won’t be so easy to get rid of,” Mateo says. They’re both smiling at each other but it’s the sick kind of smile that is just for show.

“I wouldn’t expect anything less.” Thomas waits a moment before continuing, “We’ll meet back here when it’s done and settle up. The door off the kitchen will be open. You can wait in there if you beat me back.”

“No problem.”

Even though I thought I was being so clever, I’ve just played right into his hands. We all have—me, Agent Hammond, Agent Williams.

They start talking about random sports stuff now like they’re just two guys shooting the shit. I crawl back to my room but leave the door open so I can hear if someone else comes or goes.

I yank the phone out of my back pocket and power it up, calling Catherine’s phone.

She answers on the third ring and I can tell I woke her up.

“Anna?”

“Yes. How’s Ethan?”

“He’s sleeping but he told me to wake him if you called. My uncle said the wound looked good and that whoever fixed him up did a really good job. He cleaned it really good and started him on some antibiotics but that was it. Ethan is refusing a pain pill, says he needs to be alert. With the concussion, he just needs to rest. He’s hell-bent on heading back to New Orleans this morning. Will told him the only way he would take him was if he got some sleep first. How are you? I’m worried sick about you. We all are.”

“I’m okay. I’m so sorry you’re in this mess, Catherine. I’ll make it up to you…when I can. I hate to wake him, but I really need to talk to Ethan. Can you get him up?”

“Sure. Hold on. Oh, and be safe, Anna. Don’t do anything stupid. Anything else, I guess I should say—leaving us was already pretty stupid!”

It’s quiet on the other end for a few seconds so I poke my head out of the room to make sure they’re still down there talking. I hear their faint murmurings so I slip back in my room.

“Anna,” Ethan says, his voice groggy from sleep.

“Oh God, Ethan. Are you okay?” I’m nearly busting with wanting to tell him what I’ve learned.

“Tired but better. Room isn’t spinning like it was yesterday. Did you get away? We can be on the road in ten minutes, Anna. Tell me where you are.”

“It’s so much worse than that. We’ve been played. I’ve been played. Mateo is here, outside talking to Thomas like they’re old friends. And he knows where you are. He told Thomas you’re at Dr. Alexander’s house in Baton Rouge. Is that Catherine’s uncle’s name?”

“Are you kidding me?” Ethan asks.

“No. He mentioned a tracker. I think we have something on us. And I think someone is watching the house.”

“I’ve been wondering why he only shot me in the arm if he took the contract to kill me.”

“Yeah, he wasn’t supposed to shoot you at all. He was supposed to find us and call Thomas. But he was pissed you kicked him in the head.”

“Oh, just wait. I’ll kick that son of a bitch until I bash his head in.”

“Ethan, I need you to promise me something. Don’t come back here. It isn’t safe. They are so far ahead of us, you’ll end up getting hurt. Take Teeny and run.”

“Hold on.” And then I hear a muffled sound and Ethan’s gone from the phone for a few seconds. “Sorry, trying to get dressed. That’s bullshit. I’ll be there in a couple of hours. I talked to Catherine’s uncle. He’s meeting a lawyer buddy of his at the police department here in Baton Rouge this morning and they are going to try to figure out what to do. The dude is smart when it comes to medicine but he’s scared shitless about getting involved with this.”