The Sinners - Ruby Vincent Page 0,1

the lovely Miss Bancroft a chance,” Rio went on. “All I asked for was the hundred grand for your grandmother, but now...”

Rio gripped the desk chair and pushed it in front of me. He sat down, gun trained on me, and looked me in the eyes. “Now, I’ll have it all.”

“A-all?” I croaked.

“Everything your parents stole, dear.”

My blood ran cold.

“Twenty-five million would go a long way to getting you into my good graces and possible forgiveness for your friends over there.” He motioned to the couch. “I’ll have it right here and right now. Tell me where your parents are hiding.”

Part of me felt I should have known this is where we were headed.

I started to speak. “I—”

“Before you make the mistake of lying to me,” Rio cut in, “you should know I’ve been following your parents’ case very closely since I discovered my mother was one of their victims. I know about the message they left you and I requested a copy of it from a friend of mine on the force.” Rio’s gun remained on me as he pulled a slip of paper from his pocket.

My eyes widened. No, no, no.

“Ember,” he read, “Surrender an offering onto the goddess. Tell your brother we love him. From, Mom and Dad.” He met my eyes over the paper. “That first line is a hidden message if I’ve ever heard one.”

I licked my lips, tasting copper blood. This was an entirely different situation from the FBI’s interrogation.

“It is a message,” I said carefully, “but it doesn’t lead to their location as I’ve tried to tell everyone for the last few months. It’s just an”—I cast about for the phrase—“inside joke,” I finished. “It’s a joke between us.”

His perfect brows shot up his forehead. “A joke? Please share. I love a joke as much as the next guy. Don’t I, gentlemen?”

The brutes he brought with him murmured their agreement.

“Well, Miss Bancroft?” Rio pressed. “I’m listening.”

The explanation rose in my throat and lodged. Every fiber of my being rejected the notion of giving in. Of telling him what my parents truly wanted me to do. Of sharing the secret of the music box.

Tears filled my eyes despite my resolve not to cry. What else could I do but cry when the only thing I could say would certainly get me killed?

“I won’t tell you.” My voice was small, but strong. “It’s got nothing to do with my parents or the money, and I won’t say it no matter what you do.”

“Ember,” Royal said. His face was no longer blank. A clear emotion shown in his eyes and it wasn’t anger. It was fear. “Just tell him!”

“No!” I bore into Rio. “No.”

“You should rethink this, my dear,” he said softly. “I will not hear no again.”

I leaned as far as my restraints would let me. “No,” I hissed in his face.

All of a sudden, Rio was on his feet. “Damien, Saito if you please.”

One of the brutes seized Hiro and ripped him off the couch.

“What are you doing!?” I cried.

He threw Hiro in the middle of the room. The boy fell hard on his bad arm, crying out. He pushed himself to his knees, wincing in pain, and froze before the barrel of the gun.

“Dad!” Royal surged forward.

“Don’t fucking move, boy,” Rio hissed, peeling back the mask of civility. “This ends on her word, not mine.”

Rio looked at me as he flicked off the safety. “What does the message mean?”

All pretense was gone. Hot tears gushed from my eyes. I wrenched at my bindings, twisting and jerking in the chair. “Stop! Don’t do this! Please!”

“What I do is entirely up to you,” said Rio. “I will not ask again. What does the message mean?”

Hiro did not beg or plead. Resignation shone in his eyes. He knew he was about to die and accepted it.

“Ahh!” A scream ripped from my throat. For thirteen years my horrid, painful shame stayed buried. I couldn’t speak of it now or ever.

I can’t. I can’t.

“I can’t!”

“I see,” Rio said. “I’ll have Clay next, Damian. Let’s see if she has a softer spot in her heart for him.”

Rio raised the gun.

“No!” shouted the triplets.

“Dad!”

“The message was for my sister!”

Rio stopped, finger twitching on the barrel. “Your sister?” He rounded on Royal, and the gun flew away from Hiro. “What sister?”

Royal shook his head. “I don’t know.”

“You don’t have a sister,” Rio growled. “And I’m through playing games.”

“Wait,” I shrieked as he set Hiro in his sights again. “I do have