Encore of the Avenging Muse (Sylvia and Rupert) novel Chapter 410

The hospital room was completely silent.

Rupert reeked of cigarettes, his eyes cold and fixed on the numbers glowing on the phone screen.

“What do the numbers before the 4 mean?” he asked, his voice low.

Naomi answered right away, not daring to hesitate. “1 means home, 2 is my work, 3 is leaving town.”

She and her daughter had always looked out for each other; they had to be careful.

When Naomi was young, she’d been followed by a man. Later, her sweet, pretty daughter, Sylvia, had caught the attention of someone dangerous, too.

So the two of them came up with this code. If they ever got in trouble and couldn’t call, they’d text these numbers.

Back then, Sylvia was just a kid. Their lives were simple: home and work, not many numbers to keep track of.

Edwin tried to guess, “You think Sylvia’s been taken out of town?”

Naomi frowned. “If she was out of town, she’d use 4. She knows I’d understand. She’d never mess up the code. Why would she send a 5?”

“Abroad,” Rupert said flatly. He turned and walked out of the room.

Orson and Chris followed after him.

Chris, always the calm one, tried to reason with him. “What if that string of numbers was just a trick? Maybe it’s meant to throw us off.”

Rupert’s grip tightened on his phone, his eyes dark and dangerous. “It’s from her. I know it.”

Orson looked at him helplessly. “Mr. Rupert, I’ve checked every record—no sign of Ms. Lloyd leaving the city or the country. But the airline shows Warren and Fiona boarded their flight to Paris today. How could they have taken Ms. Lloyd with them? Should I have someone watch their place in Paris?”

“No need. She’s not in Paris,” Rupert said, his voice sharp as broken glass. “But someone knows where she is.”

The air around him was icy, enough to make anyone want to step back.

---

Airport parking garage, far from the crowds.

Caleb parked his motorcycle in a deserted corner.

Verify captcha to read the contentVerify