Chapter 198: In The World Of The Ordinary…

LOUISE’S POV

The silence in this hotel room has a way of getting under my skin.

It does not feel peaceful. It feels like something holding its breath, waiting for the right moment to speak.

I sit on the edge of the bed with my hands resting on my knees. The white sheets are smooth beneath my fingers, and the cold air from the ceiling vent brushes against my ankles.

The curtains are drawn, leaving only a thin line of daylight around their edges. I cannot see the city, but I can hear it. Cars pass somewhere below. A horn sounds in the distance.

People continue with their lives as if nothing has changed. I envy them a little.

Not because their lives are better than mine, but because they can walk out of their rooms without asking permission.

I cannot.

The men outside my door make sure I remember that every few minutes. Their footsteps move along the hallway, stop near my room, then move again.

Sometimes I hear the faint crackle of a radio. Other times, there is nothing but the sound of their shoes against the carpet.

Orion’s men are good at pretending they are not watching me. I am good at pretending I do not notice.

We all have our little games.

I lower my eyes to my hands. There is a faint red mark around one wrist where the handcuffs rubbed against my skin earlier. It is not painful, but I keep touching it with my thumb.

A reminder.

They found me. They took me. They brought me here.

And now, no matter what happens outside this room, I am expected to sit quietly and wait for someone else to decide what comes next.

I almost laugh.

Alice would have hated this room. Too plain, too quiet, too little space for her to make an entrance. She would have complained about the curtains, the furniture, and the smell of the air conditioner. Then she would have called someone to fix everything before the hour was over.

She has always been good at making other people move when she wants something. I wonder if she is still doing that now. I wonder where she has gone.

The thought stays with me for a moment before I push it away.

Thinking about Alice is like touching a loose tooth. I know it will hurt, but I keep doing it anyway.

I reach inside the inner lining of my vest and feel the small pocketknife hidden there. They searched my pockets when they brought me to the hotel. They checked my hair and ran their hands over my clothes. One of them even turned my shoes upside down.

Yet somehow, they missed the knife.

The flat strip of metal rests against my ribs. I do not take it out. There is no point.

A pocketknife will not open a locked door when armed men are standing on the other side. It will not help me escape from a building I do not know, surrounded by people who are paid to make sure I stay where I am.

Still, I like knowing it is there. It is one small thing they have not managed to take from me.

A quiet click comes from the hallway.

I lift my head.

The footsteps outside my door stop.

For a few seconds, nothing happens. Then I hear the low sound of a radio being switched on, followed by a man’s voice.

"Go ahead."

Static answers him.

I cannot make out the next words, but I hear the change in his voice. It becomes sharper, losing the bored tone he has used all morning.

"What do you mean they are there?"

I sit a little straighter.

Another voice speaks through the radio. It is too faint for me to understand, but the man outside my door hears enough to make a sound under his breath.

"How many?"

Even the wind seems to pause.

"Shit."

There it is. The first honest reaction I have heard from one of Orion’s guards since arriving here.

I keep my eyes on the door.

"Say that again," the guard says. "Slowly this time."

The radio crackles.

"They opened fire on the rear entrance. Our people are returning fire, but the front of the house has taken heavy damage."

The house.

For a moment, my mind refuses to settle on which house he means. Then the answer comes, and the room seems to grow smaller around me.

The lake house. The place where Orion and Adrien found me. The place where I thought I might have a little more time before everything came crashing down.

I press my fingers against my knees.

"Who are they?" the guard asks.

The reply is too low for me to hear.

"Masamune?" he repeats.

The name means nothing to me at first. Then I remember the men connected to the trouble surrounding Alice. Men who do not need to knock before entering a place. Men who arrive with weapons instead of questions.

The man named Yaya who called me.

My mouth goes dry, but I do not move.

"When did they arrive?" Another pause. "Ten minutes ago?"

The guard curses. "No. Listen to me. Is anyone still inside?"

The answer comes quickly this time.

I lean forward, trying to catch every word.

"They thought the girl was there," the voice says through the radio. "They moved in before the rear team could leave. Our men fired back. The front porch is damaged, and there is smoke coming from the main building."

The guard turns away from my door. I hear his shoes scrape against the carpet. "Did they find anything?"

"No."

The answer is clear enough to reach me through the door.

"No, they didn’t find anything. They searched the entire property. They pulled back toward the trees when they realized the place was empty."

Silence follows. Then the guard speaks again, this time in a lower voice.

"Keep everyone in position. Nobody leaves until we know whether they have another team nearby."

The radio clicks off.