Page 190 of Love Me in the Dark

A rictus of a smile cracked her thin, salmon-colored lips. “How marvelous.”

“I’m super excited.”

Her gaze slid past me just as the elevator doors opened with a soft ding, and she motioned. “It’s my stop.”

I moved to the side. “Yes, of course.”

Without another word, she walked past me.

Sheesh, some people.

The elevator stopped a couple of moments afterward, the light on the panel indicating my floor, and I stepped out into the vestibule with its black and white checkerboard floor and soft recessed lighting. My head was bent as I dug in my pocketbook for the key to let myself in, so it’s no wonder that I missed my sister’s hunched form on the other side of the narrow table, hidden as it was by the curving legs and a tall floral arrangement.

“Jude?” Her voice was a whisper.

“Lens? What are you doing, sitting out in the hall like this? What’s wrong?” I dropped the keys I’d just pulled out and stepped forward, sinking to my knees beside her. Eleanor’s facewas streaked with tears, her dark hair a tangled mess around her face.

“There are m-men inside.” She gestured toward the door. “Bad men. They’re saying Dad stole money.”

“What?” I half-stood, already moving toward the door, but Eleanor pulled me back down.

“No. Don’t. They’re looking for ways he’s going to make it right.” Her expression was filled with fear, and the fingers of her right hand scratched along her left wrist as she released my hand, leaving trails of red.

I pulled her hand away. “Stop that. We’ll just call the police?—”

She shook her head. “I don’t think they’re going to be much help. Jude, he’s in a lot of trouble.” She handed me her phone, which had been resting on the floor beside her, and swiped it open to a webpage she had clearly visited already.

WALL STREET’S TIERNAY GUILTY OF EMBEZZLEMENT? CHARGES PENDING.

My stomach dropped. What the hell…? I forced myself to read the article, which implicated my father in a kind of Ponzi scheme that was currently under investigation by the federal government. Worse, the article linked him to the mob.

My gaze drifted to the door. Was that who was inside our penthouse? The mob?

Shit.

I had to get Lens out of here. But where? I tended to stay to myself. With the exception of a single close girlfriend, I didn’t have a lot of friends. You couldn’t trust that they were there for you, and not your family’s money and connections. Things like that tended to bring out the fake in people.

I guess for the night we’d go to a hotel. I’d contact Mom, and we’d come up with something more permanent in the morning.

Rising, I held out my hand. “Come on. Let’s get out of here.” Eleanor looked at me doubtfully. “Trust me, Lens. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

2

Jude

Eleanor and I were getting settled into a suite at a nearby hotel—no big feat, considering we had no luggage—when a text came through from Jason Lancaster.

Jason:I’m looking forward to our date tonight.

“Shit,” I muttered. “I forgot about that.”

Eleanor looked up from where she was putting together a delivery order from a superstore. Toothbrushes, toiletries, underwear and other basics…everything we’d need until I figured we could safely go back home and grab our things. “Forgot what?

“That guy Jason asked me out today. We were supposed to go out for Thai food tonight and hang out.”

“Jude!” Squealing, she dropped her phone and lunged across the sofa to grab my shoulders and shake me. She knew how long I’d been waiting for him to man up. “This is amazing!”

In spite of our circumstances, I smiled. “It is, isn’t it? I don’t want to tell him I can’t go now.”