Forsaken (The Secret Life of Amy Bensen #3)(72)

“I don’t need your thanks,” Liam says. “I need your trust.”

“Trust,” I repeat, the word playing on my tongue, unfamiliar but getting more familiar by the minute, it seems. “Amy told you about the cylinder?”

“Yes. And I told Tellar. I trust him.”

There is that word again.

“I know you spent time in Egypt, studying the pyramids.”

“Yes,” he confirms. “I did.”

“Did you know some believe the secrets of the Great City of Atlantis are buried somewhere beneath one of those pyramids?”

“I do, actually.”

“And do you know why? It’s said that they could harness the power of the universe, and such power corrupted those who used it and they self-destructed. The secrets to that power are said to be protected so that it can’t happen again. The moral of the story being that power corrupts. I believe you are honorable right now. I can’t know that won’t change.”

His lips curve. “No. But if it does, and it won’t, you could always just choke me to death, like you promised before.”

I give him a deadpan stare and then, to my surprise, I laugh. “Yes, I could. And I would.”

“I have no doubt that that’s a good thing. You could, but you won’t unless you have to, as proven by the fact that you could have killed every one of those consortium members after your parents’ death.”

“I thought about it. I’ve thought about it often, but each of them has connections outside that group, and I have no idea how many of them know about me. So instead, I gathered resources and prepared for a conclusion, and I planned to follow with revenge. At this point, I just want the conclusion.”

“Which is what?”

“If I knew that, we’d already have one.”

“I might have some ideas on that.”

“You don’t even know what I have. And what were you thinking, making a special appearance at an event you knew a consortium member would be at?”

“We were going to set a trap. Given all that’s happened, they’ll be ready for us now, so we’ll have to think of something else. And as of about fifteen minutes ago, I do know exactly what you have.”

Stunned, I turn to look at him. “How?”

“Dr. Murphy managed to install a bug in Sheridan’s office during her last visit. Derek, who I trust implicitly, is monitoring the feed while Tellar has been occupied. Apparently things just got more complicated. We aren’t in this alone anymore. Derek just overheard Sheridan making a deal with the Chinese, after someone told him Rollin is alive. He didn’t know that before. And I don’t think I have to tell you how big a problem the Chinese suddenly being involved is.”

“Does Amy know?”

He gives a sharp shake of his head. “Not yet. She’s been through hell lately, and I’m not looking forward to the fear this is going to create in her. But we have to tell her. And maybe knowing will stop her damned blackouts. What does Gia know?”

“Everything but where the cylinder is.” I take a risk, testing him by adding, “No one knows that but me.”

And he passes the test with a vehement “Keep it that way,” followed by “What we don’t know, we can’t tell willingly or unwillingly. You can’t give up the cylinder. It’s a nuclear bomb. Industries would crash. Jobs gone. We’re talking complete economic and world collapse. If one man controlled that cylinder he could re-create everything under his power.”

“That’s right. But I can’t destroy it, because one day the world might need it. And they’d never believe I destroyed it, anyway.” My brow furrows as a plan, that damn plan I’ve been looking for forever, comes to me. “But what if we make them all believe someone else has it?”

“Rollin?” Liam supplies.

“He’s the perfect fall guy. He’s faked his death. He’s crossed his father.”

“Agreed,” Liam says. “But we have to find him to use him, and that’s going to be a race against his father. Sheridan was furious about the betrayal. He’s on the hunt for Rollin, with someone feeding him information. That means they’ll either be preoccupied fighting each other, or coming after us from all sides.”

“Sheridan’s the one who grabbed me. Rollin must have someone inside his father’s operation. How else could he promise the cylinder to anyone? We need to know who.”

“I spent time in China for work. I have contacts, people that I trust within certain cautious boundaries—but I can’t make those calls until we get to the safe house and I have privacy.”

Gia’s voice carries in the air, stronger now it seems, with Amy’s laughter on its tail. “Safe house,” I repeat. “It’s not safe. They aren’t safe.”

“No,” he agrees. “They aren’t.”

I look at him. “Then this is war.”

“Yes,” he agrees. “This is war.”

Then Dr. Murphy appears and motions me to the back. “Gia is asking for you.”

I exchange a look with Liam—two men united, fighting for their women—then I head to the back.

Amy smiles at me. “We’re debating the merits of locking Sheridan in one of Dad’s dig sites versus poisoning him with arsenic. Or both.”