The Flight of the Silvers (Silvers #1)(64)

“If you think I came to this decision lightly—”

“That’s exactly what I think.”

Sitting silent and rigid at the far end of the table, Theo awkwardly scanned his companions. He’d been an erratic presence in their lives over the last two weeks. Some days he’d join them for all three meals. Other days he’d never leave his second-floor sanctum. He wished today had been one of those other days. He felt like a guest at a family brawl.

Hannah held Zack’s wrist. “Look, we get your decision . . .”

“She doesn’t,” he snarled, in Amanda’s direction.

“She wants you to stay. We all do. We just don’t understand the rush. Why can’t you wait a month or two?”

“You think we’ll be any more prepared? It’s been two weeks since Quint’s presentation. Have there been any follow-ups? Where’s the net-accessible computer he promised us ten days ago? Wake up, Hannah. He wants us to stay clueless. He wants us to be scared and dependent on him, because we’re his meal ticket.”

Mia anxiously twisted her napkin. She agreed with everything Zack said and hated the fact that Quint’s scheme was working. The thought of facing the outside world still terrified her.

“I’d go if we all went,” she meekly offered.

David tapped the face of his wristwatch in absent bother. “That’s not going to happen. I’m sorry, Mia, but I see no need to leave this place.”

“I do,” Amanda declared. “But I’m not ready.”

“Me neither,” said Hannah, with a tender glance at Zack. “Look, you’re right. It’s your life and you know what you’re doing. It just breaks my heart to lose you. It would kill me to learn that something bad happened to you out there on your own.”

Amanda reeled with envy at her sister’s warm finesse with men. Even as a child, Hannah’s effortless charm had boys falling all over her. She disarmed them as easily as Amanda set them on edge.

Zack’s tense brow unfurled. He patted Hannah’s wrist. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want to start a whole drama. But after everything that’s happened, I just can’t stay here anymore. I have to get out and do something.”

He pushed his chair back and stood up.

“I need a purpose.”

As Zack retreated from the table, his companions glumly stared at their half-eaten dinners. Theo blew a hot sigh through his nose.

“I’ll go.”

Zack turned around at the door, wearing the same look of surprise as the others. Theo himself seemed caught unaware by the announcement. He had no clue where his idea came from, but assumed it wasn’t a place of bravery.

“I’ll go with you,” he said. “If that’s all right.”

Quint’s lantern jaw went slack as he continued to monitor the discussion from his office. Azral had already assured him that Trillinger’s departure was an acceptable loss. The cartoonist was expendable and wouldn’t be missed. But if Zack turned his exit into an exodus, if he convinced even one of the crucial Silvers to escape with him . . .

The handphone on Quint’s desk suddenly lit up with a new text message.

<Maranan must not leave.>

Quint rubbed his eyes in tension. Of course. Of course Azral already knew.

He stroked his neck in dark contemplation before keying a reply.

<Maybe we should dispose of Trillinger. Convince the others that he left alone, without word. They’d believe it. And if they hear he died in travel, it would be ages before any of them dared to leave this place.>

Azral responded immediately. <You’d do this?>

Quint scowled at the screen. He was hoping Azral would do the dirty work himself. Of course it wouldn’t be that easy.

<You once told me your project was for the greater good,> Quint typed.

<A greater good than you can possibly imagine.>

The esteemed physicist could only sigh.

<Then yes. I reckon I would do it.>

Four minutes later, Azral’s final message arrived. Quint could see the smile behind the words.

<I chose you well, Sterling. Do this right and we’ll have much to discuss.>

Quint leaned back in his chair and pondered the variables of this new equation. He promised Zack he’d have his parting cash on Monday. That gave him two and a half days to plan his attack. Two and a half days to rid the world of a man who shouldn’t exist at all.

—

The rest of the weekend was tense for all six Silvers. The sisters snapped at each other over silly little trifles. Mia barely left her suite. David followed Zack around like a cloud of doom, raining negative scenarios about his impending journey. Zack was, as David cautioned, a fairly obvious Semite on a solitary trek through a regressed American south. Zack told him it sounded like a great screenplay, then reminded him he wouldn’t be traveling alone.

“Yes you will,” David attested. “You’ll lose Theo at the first liquor store. If you’re lucky, he won’t steal all your money beforehand.”

Though Zack scoffed at the unkind notion, it had already made several laps around his own head. Even Theo found the idea far too credible for his liking. His tricky demon never stopped reminding him that sweet relief could be found just outside the property. It filled him with increasing dread about staying there. By the end of the weekend, the voice in his head had fallen to abject panic. Get out. Get out. Get out now.