Lies I Told(64)

“Then what’s the plan?”

I knew I wouldn’t like it when my mom cut a glance at my dad before returning her gaze to me. Like she was seeking his last-minute support.

“You’ll be at Logan’s the night of the theft. We have a mild sedative that you—”

“A mild sedative?” I interrupted.

“It will just put him to sleep for a while,” my dad said. “Long enough for us to get the gold.”

I folded my arms over my chest. “I’m not drugging Logan.”

“Yes, you are.” My dad’s tone was firm, his gaze unflinching. “It’s what has to be done to complete the job.”

“I can’t do it,” I said, desperation creeping into my voice. But even as I said it, I knew I would do what I was told to do. Our safety and freedom depended on it.

“Yes, you can, honey,” my mom said gently. “I know it’s hard. I know you have . . . feelings for Logan. But it has to be done. We all risk exposure if we stay here much longer.”

“And might I remind you,” my dad added, “that your carelessness is partly to blame for that.”

I was hit with a fresh wave of guilt. He was right. I was the one who’d kept—and carried—the ID card. I was the one who’d let Rachel Mercer wander the house the day she’d found the shredded map of the Fairchild estate.

I glanced at Parker, but he was silent. He wasn’t going to bat for Logan. He was on Team Get Out Now, whatever it took.

“What would it do to him?” I heard the defeat in my own voice. Hated myself for it.

My mom’s shoulders relaxed a little. “It’s just Valium. It’ll put him to sleep for a few hours and he’ll wake up good as new.”

I was still thinking about it when my dad launched into the plans for the night of the theft. “You’ll hang out with Logan on Friday, wait until just before midnight, and slip the Valium into his drink. Parker will be at Allied, waiting for our signal.”

“What signal?” I asked.

“We have to carry cell phones on this one, Gracie,” my mom said. “It’s risky, but it’s the only way to keep in contact with everyone so spread out. If any of us gets picked up, it’s SOP for getting rid of it.”

Standard Operating Procedure for getting rid of a cell phone was to surreptitiously submerge it in a body of water or to remove the memory card, snip it into pieces, and take a hammer to the cell phone. Depending on the resources available at the time.

“You’ll text me when Logan’s out, and I’ll text Parker,” my dad continued. “Parker will get in front of the guard he’s been taunting at Allied, make him think he has a shot at catching him.” He looked at me. “Then Parker will double back to Allied and put the Fairchild cameras on a loop. Once we know he’s done, you’ll buzz us in through the gate using the alarm keypad.”

“Where will you and Mom be all this time?” Asking the question meant defeat. He’d pulled me into the plan, forced me to visualize it, to be a part of it. With every question I asked, every suggestion I made, I was that much more committed.

Psychology 101.

“We’ll be waiting in the truck near the cliffs,” he said. “We’ll start to move when I get the all clear from Parker, and we’ll be at the gate when you buzz us in. Be sure to close it behind us so the neighbors don’t get suspicious.”

“Then what?”

“Then you’ll put on the mask we give you—”

“Mask?” We’d never worn masks before.

He nodded. “We’ll all have masks. Eventually, they’ll know it was us, but we don’t want to give them anything we don’t have to, just in case.”

I heard the rest of his sentence in my mind. In case we get caught. In case it goes to trial. In case the loop on the cameras goes awry and the footage is used as evidence.

“We can take them off once we’re inside the carriage house, away from the cameras,” my mom added, as if such small consolation somehow made everything else okay.

“We’ll back the truck up to the carriage house,” my dad continued. “Then we’ll break the locks on the bunker and start unloading the gold.”

“If it’s even there,” I said, still half hoping it wouldn’t be.

“It’s there,” he said.

“What about Parker?” I asked.

“Parker will keep watch at Allied, make sure they’re not suspicious that their cameras have been tampered with. When we have the gold loaded, we’ll text him a location and pick him up on our way out of town.”

“And that will be it?” I say. “We’ll leave straight from the Fairchilds’ house?”

“That’s the plan,” my dad said. “Both of you need to be packed.” He leveled his gaze at me. “No mementos, Gracie.”

I chewed my lip.

My mom spoke next. “I’ll drop your father at a dummy car and he’ll take you and Parker to the safe house while I make the gold drop to our buyers. We’ll meet up after that.”

“Wait . . . we’re splitting up?” Parker asked.

“It’s the smartest thing to do in this case,” my dad said. “Your mom is the one who arranged for the sale of the gold. These are her contacts. The rest of us shouldn’t be exposed if we can help it.”