The Silenced

Chapter 29

A vibration.

Without even opening his eyes, Nate reached out and grabbed his bag off the floor. Back in college the vibration of a phone wouldn’t have even caused him to stir in his sleep. But now, no matter how deep he was under, it immediately woke him.

The room was still dark, the only illumination seeping in coming from the streetlights outside. Nate activated his phone, then squinted at the sudden brightness of the screen. Once his pupils adjusted, he could see he’d received a text message from Julien.

Nate looked at the clock at the top corner of the display. 5:07 a.m. He tapped out a reply:

Julien texted back:

There was no use trying to go back to sleep. Nate knew from experience it wouldn’t come. His mind was already alert. He turned off the no-longer-needed alarm he’d set for 6 a.m., then put his phone down and swung his legs off the couch.

He listened for any other noise in the apartment, but all was quiet. Liz apparently didn’t have friends who texted her at five in the morning. Making as little noise as possible, he crossed the living room to the entry.

After Liz had gone to bed, he had braced one of her dining room chairs under the handle of the front door for added security. The last thing he wanted was for her to see it there, so he picked it up and carried it back to where he’d found it.

He thumbed through some of Liz’s magazines, then perused the books on her shelves, before deeming it late enough to take a shower. By 6:20, he was dressed and ready for the day. He began to make bets with himself on when he would hear Liz get up. The winning time turned out to be 7:37 a.m. But it was almost an hour later before she joined him in the living room.

She was wearing dark jeans, a white sweater, a pair of brown boots, and had wrapped a multicolored scarf around her neck. After what had happened the previous night, Nate had been anxious about the moment they would see each other again. As she looked at him, he thought, Here it comes. The I’ve-been-thinking-it-might-be-better-if-you-stay-in-a-hostel speech. Or the listen-last-night-I-drank-a-little-too-much-so-if-I-led-you-to-think-anything-I’m-sorry line followed by the hostel speech.

“Good morning,” she said, a hint of a smile.

“Bonjour,” Nate said.

“Aha. Nice. You work on that all night?”

“As a matter of fact I did. Didn’t sleep at all.”

“Well, it sounds like it paid off.” She stared through him. Now, for sure, he thought. I’m so kicked out. “I’ve been thinking.…”

He suppressed a laugh.

“What’s so funny?” she asked.

He shook his head. “Nothing. Sorry.”

Her eyes narrowed as if she was assessing him anew, but then she smiled. “I’ve been thinking that I really don’t want to go to class this morning. So, why don’t we grab some breakfast, then visit one of those places we just looked at from the outside yesterday. Maybe the Louvre? Take in the Mona Lisa? How’s that sound?”

He was stunned into momentary silence. That was definitely not the hostel speech.

“No?” she said.

“Ah, no. I mean, yes,” he said. “That sounds great. But I don’t want to mess you up at school.”

“If I thought it was going to mess me up, I wouldn’t do it.”

“Okay. Sure. I’d love it.” He stood up and met her at the entrance hall.

“Besides,” she said as she pulled her jacket out of the closet, “I’d have probably taken the day off whether you were here or not.”

“I feel so special.”

“Thought you’d like that.”

“Hold on,” he said. “I should hit the bathroom first.”

“Make it quick. I’m hungry.”

In the bathroom, he took a moment to refocus, then texted the new plan to Julien. Before he left, he looked at himself in the mirror.

“She’s Quinn’s sister,” he said. “Don’t screw this up.”

The only problem was, he wasn’t sure if the Nate who was looking back at him was listening.

They spent over an hour and a half at a café a few blocks away. Then followed that up by browsing through a couple of bookstores in the neighborhood, looking for a book Liz wanted for her dissertation. It wasn’t until they visited their fourth bookstore that they found it.

“Thanks for letting me take care of this,” she said as they exited the store. “You mind if we drop it off at my place before we head out?”

“Are you kidding? I’d be furious.” He smiled and held up his hands. “You’re in charge today. I’m just happily along for the ride. I mean, I’m in Paris for God’s sake.”

She raised an eyebrow. “I’m in charge?”

“Within reason.”

“Hmmm.”

A light rain began to fall. They raced down the sidewalk and ducked under the cover of the entryway. While she unlocked the door, Nate glanced back just in time to see Julien slip under the awning of the café. He was talking tensely into his phone.

“After you,” Liz said, holding the door open.

They ducked inside, then rode the elevator up to Liz’s floor.

“Maybe we should just stay in,” Nate said once they were back in the apartment.

She gave him an odd look. “You’re not going to let a little rain stop you, are you?”

“It’s not just rain. It’s cold rain.”

“We won’t be outside that much. Besides, it’s a perfect day for the museum.”

While Liz was in her room, Nate went into the bathroom, once again using the time to text Julien.

There was no immediate response.

As he was washing up, he heard a noise from down the hall. A double bang, like someone slamming pots down on a counter.

He dried his hands, then stepped out of the bathroom.

There were voices coming from near the entrance. Liz’s and a man’s.

He ran toward the entryway.

“I already told you. There is no Nate here.” Liz’s voice. She was speaking in French.

“I’m sorry, not Nate,” the other voice said, also in French. “Em … Andrew. I need to talk to Andrew.”

“Andrew?”

As Nate turned into the foyer, he saw Liz standing next to the partially open doorway. On the other side was Julien.

The second Julien saw him, the Frenchman pushed the door all the way open and stepped across the threshold. In English, he said, “I need to talk to you now!”

“You can’t come in here! Get out! Now!”

“What’s going on?” Nate asked Julien.

“Do you know this guy?” Liz asked.

“Yeah.” Nate instantly switched out of backpacking-college-student mode and into that of highly trained operative. “He’s a friend. Do you mind if he comes in for a minute?”

Liz eyed the massive Julien, then looked back to Nate. “You can talk to him in the hallway. I don’t feel comfortable with him in my apartment.”

“We don’t have time for this,” Julien said. He took a step further into the apartment, then shut the front door.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Liz yelled. “Get out!”

But the Frenchman had turned his attention to Nate. “We have to get her out of here. Now.”

“I’m calling the police.” Liz started for the living room, but Nate grabbed her waist and stopped her. “What are you doing?” she shrieked. “Let me go!”

“No police,” Nate said.

A look of terror crossed her face. “Oh, God. You’ve been fooling me, haven’t you? You’ve just been waiting for your friend to get here, and now what? Are you going to rape me, is that it?”

“Relax. We’re not going to hurt you.”

Liz wrenched herself free from Nate’s grasp and pushed herself against the wall. Since she wasn’t going for the phone, he let her be for the moment.

To Julien, Nate said, “What happened?”

“I just received a call from my client. He has three men in the city on their way over here right now. They said they checked with her school and know that she’s in the city. I couldn’t hide her from them any longer. I had to tell them she just got back. As soon as the others arrive, we are to take her to someplace quiet.”

Liz’s eyes grew wide.

“Nate, we have no more than fifteen minutes.”

Nate grimaced, then turned and took a step toward Quinn’s sister. “You need to listen to me. We’re here to help you, not hurt you.”

She stared at him for a moment, then pushed herself off the wall and tried to run into the living room. Nate grabbed her again, lifting her off her feet, then all but carried her to the couch and set her down.

“Leave me alone! Leave me alone!” she said, striking at him wildly with her hands.

“Liz, please. Stop.” He was able to finally grab her wrists, and pushed them down into her lap.

“Who are you?” she asked.

“Your life’s in danger. Do you understand? Some people who want to harm you are on their way here right now.”

“No. No. You’re lying,” she said, shaking her head. “You’re just saying that to get me out of the building, then you’ll … you’ll …”

Nate needed to calm her down, and fast. “I think you should talk to your—” He looked at Julien. The Frenchman already thought he knew the truth, but as far as Nate knew, Quinn had never confirmed it. To hell with it, he thought. Quinn could be pissed at him later. “Your brother.”

She stopped struggling, confused. “My brother?”

“I work for him.” Nate said.

“You work for Jake?”

“Yes.”

“I thought you said you’d only met him once before.”

Nate took a deep breath. “I lied.”

Her eyes flicked to Julien, then back to Nate. “Who’s Nate?”

Nate took a deep breath. “I am.”

“But … what about … you said your name was Andrew.”

“Liz, we need to get you out of here.”

“Why would my brother want you here?”

“To protect you.”

“Protect me?”

“He knew you were in danger.”

“I don’t believe that for a second.” She started pushing against him again.

“Julien. Get Quinn on the phone.”

“Who the hell is Quinn?” Liz asked.

He looked at her. “Your brother.”

Nate knew it was all coming at her too fast. He could almost see her mind overloading.

Dammit, he thought. This was not the way this should have gone.

“Quinn? It’s Julien. We have a problem.” Nate listened as the Frenchman described their situation to Quinn.

When he was finished, Nate said, “It would be great if he would talk to her.”

Julien relayed the request, then walked over to the couch and tried to hold the phone up to Liz’s ear. But she moved her head away, twisting it and turning it so Julien couldn’t get the phone in place.

“It’s just a trick,” she said. “It’s not him.”

“Use the speaker,” Nate said.

Julien touched the screen of his phone, then said, “Quinn?”

“I’m here.”

Liz froze.

“Quinn,” Nate said, “we need to get Liz out, but she’s not cooperating. We’ve got five minutes tops before we run into a potential overlap. Could you please convince her we’re not here to hurt her?”

“Liz,” Quinn said, “you need to listen to them. They have to get you out of there now.”

“I don’t know who you are, but you’re not my brother,” she said.

Quinn took a moment before responding. “When we were out on the lake after we flipped, and I grabbed ahold of you, remember?”

“Shut up!” she yelled. “Shut up!”

“I whispered something in your ear.”

“Please stop,” she said, only this time some of the fight was missing from her voice.

“I said it over and over. Do you remember? I said, ‘I’ll never let anything hurt you.’ ”

Liz’s hands began to shake. “Jake?”

“My friends are there to keep you safe. You need to listen to them, and do exactly what they say. Can you do that?”

“Jake, what’s going on?”

“We’ll talk about that later. I promise. Right now you have to get out of your apartment.”

“I … I don’t understand.”

“Someone is on their way to your place right now. If they get there before you leave, they will kill my friends and take you. They very likely will kill you, too. You have to leave now.”

“Kill us? Why would they—”

“Liz! You’re running out of time. Once my friends get you someplace safe, I’ll explain everything to you.”

The stunned look on her face turned defiant.

“Why should I believe you?” she said. “You haven’t cared about me for twenty years.”

“Liz! You can hate me all you want, but you still need to get the hell out of there. Please, listen to Andrew.”

“Ah, yeah,” Nate said. “About that. She already knows my name.”

“I don’t care what she knows! You all need to leave right now!”

Julien’s phone beeped.

“What’s that?” Quinn asked.

Julien looked at the display. “It’s them. I think they’re here.”