29
STELLA
KEITH SHATTUCK HAD WORKED FOR my parents for nearly fifteen years, which was why I’d recognized him, even with the mask. He came from a staunchly middle-class family, had graduated from a state school, and joined the company with an entry-level accounting job before slowly climbing the ranks. And sure, his salary was decent, but he didn’t have the kind of money that granted access to parties like this.
“What are you doing here?” I asked him.
“Your boyfriend invited me.” He gestured back toward the crowd. “A
bunch of us are here.”
My stomach sank. What the fuck?
“Who else?” I demanded.
“I saw Jessica a few minutes ago.”
“My dad’s executive assistant?”
Keith nodded. “And Mike, Brian, Adam, Laura, Charlotte, Wayne, Joe, and a few other people, but I’m sure there are more of us.”
It felt like the floor dropped out from beneath me.
“I haven’t run into Theo yet,” he said. “Will you thank him for us if you see him first? This is so exciting.”
“Please tell me you haven’t spent any money,” I said, the blood draining from my face.
“No. I’ve always wanted to try blackjack, though, so I think I’ll head over there first.”
He made to step away, but I grabbed him. “Keith, listen to me. You have to get out of here. This isn’t what you think. Theo’s not really my boyfriend.”
He pulled out of my grip, looking like he was torn between laughing and frowning. “What do you mean?”
Other people had noticed me lunge and were turning toward us, so I tugged him over to a corner. “This isn’t just some fun, themed party. This is an illegal gambling ring.”
He chuckled, looking uncomfortable. “Gambling ring? That’s going a bit far, isn’t it? I know you’ve always had a darker sense of humor, but—”
“Keith, I am begging you to leave. There’s way more going on right now than I can ex—”
“Steve!” he yelled as a fresh batch of guests arrived. “Hey, you made it!”
And then he just … walked away.
I stared after him. Okay, Keith, you know what? Fine. Fuck you. It wasn’t like I’d been trying to save your ass or anything. I stalked away from him, as angry as I was afraid, and wove back into the crowd, a tingling sensation creeping up my spine.
Something was going on here. From everything I’d learned, Theo only ever went after a certain type of clientele: the wealthy, the criminal elite, social climbers, hedge fund managers, real estate investors, etc. Part of what made his parties so exciting was the chance to rub elbows with people outside your normal social circles, and the masks added an additional thrill because you had no idea who you were speaking to—the heir apparent to a foreign conglomerate or a mobster.
These events were supposed to be exclusive. Inviting random, regular people went against everything they promised.
My mind worked on overdrive as I discreetly searched the crowd for my brother. I had no doubt that if Theo caught either of us, he’d be furious.
From the beginning, I’d wondered why Theo had invited one seemingly random, underage college kid to something like this if it weren’t for a specific reason. Yes, Blake came from money, and he could have been targeted just for that, but he didn’t fit the guest list. He wasn’t an extravagant spender. He wasn’t a social butterfly or known in party circles; he was a bookish engineering student.
My assumption had been that Blake was a mark. That Theo had chosen him because he was vulnerable, with the plan to blackmail his way into high society and expand his clientele list to the uber-wealthy, making these parties even more exclusive.
That made sense. Explained why Theo had been so quick to offer that I take on Blake’s debt. And the whole fake-dating-to-lure-in-the-wealthy
scheme had popped out of his mouth just as fast.
But now I wondered if I’d been a mark, too, and my parents were the real endgame. Because I couldn’t think of why so many of their employees were at this party—innocent and unsuspecting, and, judging by Keith’s nonchalance, thinking it was just a fun little game night—unless something bigger was in the making.
What if Theo did to them what he’d done to my brother? Plied them with drinks, sat them at tables with more knowledgeable players, and then offered to front them as much money as they needed, allowing them to spiral deeper and deeper into his debt?
For what reason? I thought, feeling desperate. Why would he target people who could never pay him back?
Unless … he wasn’t after their money, but something else. Information?
Dirt on the company? Secret files? To what, blackmail my parents, hoping for a big payout? Attempt a hostile takeover of the company? I shook my head, my thoughts whirling, more options presenting themselves, each darker than the last. Yes, Theo hated the rich, but this was targeted, and it made me wonder what on earth my parents could have done to become the focus of his hatred.
My parents were good people. I believed that with my whole heart. Were they perfect? No. But they’d never tried to hide their failures, always used them as teaching moments for Blake and me growing up. As far as I knew, there weren’t any skeletons in their closet.
Two people parted in front of me, and I finally caught sight of my brother again.
I beelined toward him, slipping my arm through his and, as casually as I could, dragging him sideways, almost bumping right into Feddy and Julia, who were too busy pawing at each other to notice us—gross. Once we were clear of the crowd, I pulled Blake to a stop by the far wall, beside another hollowed-out doorway. “What the fuck are so many of Mom and Dad’s
employees doing here?”
“Oh, you finally caught on, did you?”
“Blake, answer me!”
“I don’t know, okay? It’s the one puzzle piece I haven’t put together yet.”
“How did you even know they would be here?”
“Because, I told you, I’ve been paying attention. Ever since that first party. While you were god knows where, Theo was busy buttering up Tori.”
“Our parents’ chef?”
“Yes. I heard them talking in the kitchen and listened by the door, and he put on that charming act of his and asked her a bunch of questions about Mom and Dad. He did it again at every event after. Any time your back was turned, he’d slip off and go talk to the staff, or someone close to our parents. Didn’t you see him at the company party?”
My thoughts cast back to that night, memories dominated by the fights with Maddie and Theo, and then what happened afterward. I focused, and a fractured image of Theo yukking it up with a group of people after dinner
finally materialized.
Now here all those people were.
Betrayal and anger raced through my veins. Theo had been playing me this whole time, and I was an idiot for not seeing it. For being so consumed with my own predicament and sickness and worries that I’d been too distracted to see the forest for the trees.
Blake took my elbow and towed me past the doorway, down another narrow tunnel and into a dead-end side shoot. “I talked to Jessica at the museum, and she told me Theo mentioned something to her about how he threw his own parties. I knew that had to mean he was going to send her an invitation, so I went right to the police station afterward and told them everything I knew. I wasn’t about to sit back and give him the chance to execute whatever fucked-up scheme this is.”
I braced a shoulder against the wall, swaying. Oh, god. This was bad.
This was so, so bad. “Blake, he’s going to kill you.”
“He won’t get the chance. The police are on their way right now.”
An icy wash of fear sluiced down my spine. “Why did you bring me here?”
“Because I thought you’d be happy!” he yelled, his voice bouncing off the stone. “I thought you’d want to see the look on Theo’s face when he was arrested, but I didn’t realize you’d caught feelings for the man actively blackmailing you.”
I winced, not bothering to defend myself because the accusation was warranted. I had caught feelings for Theo. Because I thought we’d been working together toward a righteous end goal. But now I knew that I’d
never been anything to him but another game piece to move across the board toward his ultimate goal.
“The cops will probably raid this party with a SWAT team,” I told Blake, because this wasn’t my first rodeo with illegal events. “Everyone inside will be arrested. Including all of our parents’ employees.”
“Yeah, but they’ll be released once the cops realize they’re innocent.”
So smart, yet so fucking naïve. “The cops are not the good guys, Blake, and the sooner you realize that, the better. We need to find some way to quietly get everyone out of here.”
A dark shape stepped into the mouth of the alcove.
Blake and I spun around.
Theo.
Fuck.
He pointed at my brother. “Take him.”
Two burly men appeared, heading straight for Blake.
Oh, hell fuck no. I had mace in my clutch because I never went anywhere without a bottle, and I quickly fumbled it out and lifted it to eye level.
Theo sighed. “Don’t hurt my girlfriend. She’s the idiot with the pepper spray, if you can’t tell.”
I pulled the trigger without warning, because fuck all three of them.
I hit Goon 1 straight in the eyeballs, and turned it on Goon 2 as he lunged, spraying him in the mouth. Both men went down screaming, and a cloud of fiery fumes filled the air. Theo threw his arm over his face and backed away.
“Hold your breath,” I cough-screamed, grabbing Blake and shoving him ahead of me. He broke left at the opening of the alcove, and I tried to follow him, but Theo grabbed me before I could slip by. I turned the mace on him, and he hit me on the wrist hard enough that my entire hand went numb, the
sprayer falling to the ground.
Blake froze.
“Run, or I’ll never fucking forgive you!” I said, thrashing in Theo’s arms. I didn’t know what he would do to me, but I was sure it wouldn’t be nearly as bad as what he’d do to Blake if he caught him.
One of the guards came barreling out of the alcove, wiping at his red face, looking like a rampaging bull in search of a target. The second man
was right on his heels, coughing and spitting as he tried to clear his mouth.
“Run!” I screeched.
Blake finally fled, the guards stumbling after him. They didn’t stand a chance. Blake had run Division 1 track at his boarding school. I just prayed he could get past whoever was guarding the other end of the tunnel.
Theo shoved me away from him, and I spun, hands up, ready to defend myself. I’d never seen him look so furious. Gone was the man who’d carried me three blocks through the rain. Gone was the man who’d massaged my neck. Trailed kisses down my spine. This was the Theo I’d dealt with in the restaurant. The one who’d threatened to burn my entire life to the ground.
He stepped forward. “If your fucking brother ruins tonight for me …”
I retreated, my back brushing the wall. Panic hit my bloodstream, and I glanced past him, thinking about trying to break free, but he was too big.
There was no room. I was trapped with no way out, and no opportunity to subtly warn all the innocent people he’d lured down here.
Which left me with one option.
“Cops!” I yelled, my voice loud enough to echo over the stone. “Run!
The cops are com—”
Theo lunged, slapping his palm over my mouth to shut me up. My head bounced off the wall, knocking me loopy for a second, and by the time the world stopped spinning, I realized more people were yelling, and there were whistles cutting through the air. Oh, shit, the cops really were here.
Suddenly, a wall of humanity stampeded into the adjoining tunnel, everyone trying to flee at once.
“Fuck!” Theo roared, hauling me into the chaos ahead of him, one arm around my chest, the other keeping people from careening into me.
We were like rats in a narrow tube, nowhere to go, everyone yelling and flailing and bouncing off each other. I heard a thud, felt Theo jolt forward like someone had slammed into his back. A woman screamed up ahead, and I caught sight of her falling. I tried to grab her when we got close, but Theo beat me to it, yanking her up by the back of her dress and shoving her in front of us to get her moving again.
Suddenly, he broke right, down an even narrower, tunnel with no one in it.
“Help!” I yelled, sure he was about to murder me.
He shook me like a rag doll, so hard my teeth clicked together. “Shut up.
This is another way out.”
In that moment, I didn’t give a fuck if I got arrested, not if it meant that he got handcuffed alongside me. I opened my mouth to scream again, but Theo pulled a gun from inside his jacket and aimed it right at me.
“Turn and walk,” he said.
I did as I was told, my entire body starting to shake with a mixture of anger and fear. He had a fucking gun aimed at me. A minute later, we rounded a slight bend, and the tunnel darkened dramatically. I could barely see a few inches in front of my face.
“Put your right hand on the wall,” he said. “There’s a grate up ahead.
Find it.”
I reached out, and my palm landed on something slimy. Oh, god, ew. I fought back a gag and kept walking, wondering what was happening behind us. People were really screaming now, and the closed walls of the tunnel made the sound of their running feet echo in a way that made me feel like we were about to be trampled. Whistles cut through the air, along with shouted orders of “Stop!”, “Get back here!”, and “Put your hands up!”
It was fucking anarchy. And it broke my goddamn heart because I knew there were innocent people caught up in it. All my fault. This was all my fault for helping Theo.
My fingers snagged on something, and I paused. The grate? Theo plowed right into my back, and I stumbled forward, tripping over the uneven ground to land on my hands and knees. I hissed, knowing from the burning sensation that I’d scraped the shit out of my skin.
“Get up. It’s here,” Theo said.
The screech of grinding metal rent the air.
Tears stung my eyes as I climbed to my feet. Fuck, that hurt.
Theo shoved me into the new passageway. I tripped again over a step and went down sideways this time, taking the fall on my hip and shoulder,
the ground wet and mucky beneath me.
Ew, ew, ew, but also ow, ow, ow.
“What are you doing?” he said, hauling me up by the waist. “We need to
hurry.”
“Then stop pushing me!”
Another screech of metal ripped through the air as he closed the grate, and then light flared from his direction, illuminating our surroundings. I recoiled from the sight that greeted me. It looked like something out of a horror movie: wet, dark walls, with a waterline two feet up from a past flood; garbage strewn about the floor; pipes running along the ceiling, dripping god knows what onto us; the orange glow of eyeballs close to the ground that told me we weren’t alone in this tunnel.
Without a word, Theo shoved me forward, and I had no choice but to precede him straight toward the serial killer who was obviously waiting to dismember us. In my mind, I devised a plan to push Theo at them first, straight onto their outstretched knife so I could make my escape and go find
my brother.
“Why were they here?” I asked.
“The cops?” he said, intentionally being obtuse. “Ask your brother.
Actually, you know what? Let me ask him.”
“My parents’ employees. Why the fuck were they invited?”
He didn’t answer me, and the urge to claw his eyeballs out was almost too strong to resist. The only thing stopping me was the gun.
“Theo,” I said.
“Would you shut up and let me concentrate? I’ve only been this way once, and I don’t want to get lost and end up having to eat your corpse to survive.”
“Why did your mind go straight to cannibalizing me?”
“Because I’m mad enough to!”
“You’re mad? You’re mad, Theo?” I whirled on him. “You fucking lied to me!”
“Which time?” The grin on his face sent me into outer space. I had never been so angry in my fucking life.
“I’m glad you’re not denying it,” I spat. “If you’d gaslit me on top of everything else, I—”
“You what, Stella?” he demanded. “What the fuck could you possibly do to me? Theo Strickland isn’t even my name.”
I stumbled backward, horrified, realizing that nothing between us had ever been real, and I was now trapped in an underground tunnel with someone who had more reason to want me dead than alive.
