“Oh, no. No way. Not her.”
“What? Who?”
She jabbed at the screen with one manicured nail. “Is that my dad’s new girlfriend?”
I was desperately trying to keep track of all the threads. Sacker had told Brett to stay put exactly where he was and hung up, and Chantelle was back to her conspiracy theories. They should play the girls at their own game, she suggested. Call their bluff and get the police involved—that would teach them not to waste everyone’s time. Or perhaps she, Chantelle, could post a video on social media letting the world know how inconsiderate the girls were being?
“You know her?”
“I think so. She’s a temp in his office, and also a two-faced bitch.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because I had to deliver some papers for Daddy one day, and while I was there, she asked to model for one of our Artis videos, and when I said no, she said she totally understood and then bad-mouthed me to some other lady in the bathroom.”
“You overheard her?”
Artemis nodded. “Once you hear her voice, you never get it out of your head.” Tell me about it. I’d need to drill out my ear canals when I got home. “She’ll do anything for publicity. I checked out her Insta, and it’s basically just her posing in skimpy outfits plus doing promos for the brands everyone else turns down.”
The kid in front of me tripped on the stairs, and I shot out a hand to grab his sweater while I watched the unfolding scene in Sacker’s townhouse. It had morphed into a full-on domestic, and if there was one thing worse than Chantelle talking, it was Chantelle yelling. I wanted to rip out my earpiece and stomp on it.
“You were the one who said nobody gets rich by giving money away to other people,” she accused.
“I was talking about competitors, not a fucking kidnapper.”
“And I keep telling you, there is no kidnapper. They’re just acting out.”
“My daughters wouldn’t do that.”
Chantelle snorted. “Like you’d know. You don’t spend any time with them. Trust me, I’m a woman and I know how they think—it’s a trick.”
“Get out.”
“Huh?”
“I can’t think with you screeching at me. Just get out.”
“But I live here.”
“Not anymore.”
Chantelle’s jaw dropped as Sacker yanked open the bedroom door and then pushed her through it. On the surface, that seemed like a good move, but warning bells began ringing in my head. She’ll do anything for publicity. It’s a stunt. I know how women think. Left to her own devices, Chantelle was likely to do something monumentally stupid, and Sacker hadn’t paid the ransom yet.
“Mack, find us a way out of here.”
“Give me two minutes. I’m trying to shut down the power to that giant human body.”
“We don’t have two minutes,” I hissed.
I could already hear voices on the platform. Jeffrey, Kelbyn, and Neil would try to occupy the newcomers, but if they decided to take a look at that electrical cabinet in the rear vestibule…
“Never fear, Bradley’s here.”
What the actual fuck?
“Bradley, what are you doing?”
“Leave it to me.”
“Mack, what’s he doing?”
“I don’t freaking know!”
“Bradley—”
A scream came from outside. A child’s scream, and I saw Ana’s silhouette stiffen in front of me. Shit, was that Tabby? A mother knew, right? A second scream came, a boy’s this time, followed by a third that was one hundred percent Bradley’s, and then the shouting started.
“Snake!”
“Snake!”
“Snake!”
I heard footsteps running across the plaza outside, going away from the sphere, thank goodness. More screams, other people’s this time.
“What snake?” a guy asked.
“A big one,” Josh told him. “Huge. Like the one that ate the guy in Snakes on a Plane.”
“A Burmese python?”
Nice job, kid. There was one of those in the rainforest exhibit, and earlier when I’d looked into its habitat, it had been barely visible behind a moss-covered tree stump. Somebody would have to go over to the giant glasshouse to check whether it had escaped or not, which would give us enough time to get the hell out of the park.
But Carmen still wasn’t happy. “Who let Josh watch that movie? He’s only seven years old.”
Er…
“Can we talk about that later?”
“Emmy!”
“The rangers have moved away,” Mack said. “I’ve shut off the camera.”
“Take your group and go,” I told Carmen. “Go!”
I felt rather than saw her dirty look as she slipped out the door with her four assigned kids. The plan called for me to go third, but I gave Dan a nudge.
“Swap places? I’ve got a horrible feeling the shit’s about to hit the fan in New York, and I need to call Fia.”
“Understood.”
In the accomplice lottery, I’d drawn Artemis, two boys, and another girl. The kids had been prepped well. The older of the boys held Artemis’s hand as we strolled across the plaza, and I caught a flash of turquoise in the distance ahead of us. Bradley was on his way to the car too. Phew. I couldn’t take any more drama today. Dan had Isolde, her three boys would come afterwards on their own, and Ana would wait to buy her team snacks from the kiosk and then they’d bring up the rear. Not a care in the fucking world.
“Fia?”
“What’s up?”
“The blonde’s gonna be leaving the townhouse imminently, and you need to keep her occupied.”
“Uh, wait one second, caller.”
Shit, Chantelle had left already? The screech of chair legs on a wooden floor followed by a door opening and then the slap, slap, slap of feet on paving slabs told me Fia was on her way along the street.
“What’s happening?” Artemis whispered. “Will our dad pay?”
“Shh.”
I needed to hear Fia. Judging by the muted city sounds, she’d put her phone in her pocket while she hunted down Chantelle. Plus I had to stay aware of what was going on around us. The staff were understandably edgy after today’s events, and all
