“Cammie.” Mom’s voice stopped me. “I love you, sweetheart.”
“I love you too,” I told her, and then I walked away.
“So, Cammie,” Bex’s voice was cautious. It was a new approach for her, and it scared me. “How was it?”
“It was awful. They shot Ambassador Winters right in front of me. It was…awful,” I said again. I didn’t care how ridiculous I sounded.
“It’s okay, Cam.” Bex eased slowly closer. “Just tell us what you know.”
“They knocked me out to take me there. I don’t even remember leaving the mansion. And when I woke up I was groggy and sick. And then Agent Edwards realized I was awake and he took me inside the prison. I thought I was going to see Preston, but it was his dad instead. Preston’s dad asked for me. And then they killed him. They shot Ambassador Winters. They shot him and then they came for me.”
“Was Preston there?” Macey asked, but she didn’t face me.
“He was in a cell in the facility. I didn’t see him, though. I saw a video feed, and he was on it.”
“Was he hurt?”
“He looked fine, Macey. Just fine. I didn’t see him up close, but the ambassador was okay, so that tells me—”
“Until they killed him,” Macey cut me off.
“What?”
“The ambassador was okay until they killed him—that’s what you mean, right?”
“Don’t think about this, Macey.”
“Think about what? The truth? Because that is the truth, isn’t it? Someone didn’t want Winters talking, so they killed him. Because he knew something. And maybe Preston knows it too. Maybe now you know it. Maybe…”
“They’ll come after me again?” I finished her thought in spite of how much I hated it. I didn’t want to go back to being the girl the Circle of Cavan was chasing.
“What did Winters tell you, Cammie?” Bex was in front of me, staring into my eyes. If she could have reached into my head and pulled the truth out she would have, but all she could do was hold me perfectly still and say, “Think!”
“Cavan,” I said. “We talked about the Inner Circle and Preston and…” I trailed off, stunned by what I remembered.
“What?” Macey asked.
“Liz,” I whispered. “He talked about Liz.”
“This Liz?” Bex asked, pointing in our roommate’s direction.
“Yeah.” I shook my head, the whole thing coming back in bits and pieces. “He asked about you.” I looked at Liz, whose eyes were even bigger and bluer than usual. “He said how smart you are. It was almost like he was trying to tell me something.”
“About Liz?” Macey asked. “That’s ridiculous. I mean, no offense, you are smart. It’s just…” Macey’s voice trailed off as she turned to Liz, who had gone even paler. “I mean, it is ridiculous, isn’t it?”
Liz’s voice was so soft it trembled. “Maybe it’s not.”
Chapter Seventeen
Liz looked at all of us, blue eyes darting, filling with grief and fear and tears.
“Liz, you’re scaring me,” I finally said when her silence became too much.
“I think it’s my fault,” she blurted, and the tears silently rolled down her face. Her pale cheeks burned crimson, and the words came in ragged stops and starts.
“I think it was me.”
“What’s you?” Bex asked.