Chapter 7 · Don't Play That Audio

I don't sleep.

I sit on the edge of the bed in Locke's guest room with Devin's card in one hand and my phone in the other. The screen's still showing that message. Twenty-four hours. Proof that Locke ordered the hit.

My finger hovers over the delete button but I don't press it.

Because what if it's real.

What if Dad recorded something before he died and Devin actually has it and the whole engagement thing was Locke cleaning up loose ends. What if I'm the loose end.

I flip the card over. Devin's number's printed in clean federal font. There's a second number scrawled on the back in pen. No label.

I should tell Locke.

I don't.

Instead I grab my laptop and pull up the encrypted email Dad set up for me when I turned sixteen. He made me memorize the password. Said if anything happened I'd find instructions there.

I never checked it after he died. Didn't want to see some goodbye letter or life advice or worse—nothing at all.

I log in.

There's one unread message. Sent three weeks ago.