Chapter 19 · The Ledger Doesn't Forget

The tunnel smelled like wet concrete and old money.

Charlotte kept three feet between herself and Marcus as they descended. The key he'd given her was still warm from his blood. She'd wiped most of it off on her jeans but the grooves stayed sticky.

Her left hand stayed in her jacket pocket. Fingers wrapped around something small and plastic.

A hair clip.

Pink. Shaped like a butterfly. One wing chipped.

She squeezed it until the cheap metal bit into her palm. Tried to pull up Lisa's face.

Nothing came.

Just the shape of a smile. The feeling of small hands. The sound of—what? Laughter? Crying?

Gone.

"You stopped walking." Marcus's voice bounced off the tunnel walls.

Charlotte blinked. Forced her legs to move. "I'm fine."

"You're not." He didn't turn around. "How much are you losing?"

"None of your business."

"It is if you forget why we're down here."

She wanted to put a bullet in the back of his head. Would've been easy. He wasn't even watching her.

But she needed him. For now.

The tunnel opened into a room that didn't make sense. Too clean. White tile. Fluorescent lights humming overhead.