The Rose Ransom (Girls Wearing Black: Book Three)

by Baum, Spencer

  But she did know the right thing to do with the girl sitting in her bedroom. Annika Fleming was getting buried deeper and deeper in the darkness that surrounded Jill. She had to act before the darkness swallowed her up, just like it had swallowed Nicky and Ryan.

  “Here’s what we do now,” Jill said, “We talk about getting a passport made for Shannon, and we start planning your escape.”

  Chapter 26

  “My escape? Where am I going?”

  It was interesting to hear Annika speak this way. For so long, their relationship had been one where Annika was the leader and Jill just another of her followers. All of that had changed. Annika’s face and tone of voice were those of a student looking for guidance. She would do whatever Jill told her to do.

  “Wherever you and Shannon want to spend the rest of your lives, that’s where,” Jill said.

  “I can’t leave now. My trust fund.”

  “I’m not going to tell you how to live your life, Annika. If you want to stay here and risk it so you and Shannon can get the money that’s coming to you, that’s your choice. But I want to make sure you’re ready to bolt in a moment’s notice.”

  “Why would I need to bolt? I thought we just took care of my problem. Didn’t we?”

  “Yes, we’ve neutralized Kim for now, but something else is bound to come up before we’re done here. If Kim knows about Shannon, that means her parents do as well. The Renwicks hired someone to go to Rio and spy on Shannon. Whoever that person was knows about her too. And what if another person developed this picture? And what if someone in Shannon’s hotel saw that she was being photographed. And what if someone other than the Renwicks saw those wire transfers you made?”

  Annika sat on Jill’s bed, looking stunned. “Mercy,” she whispered. “I hadn’t thought about all that.”

  Jill sat at her laptop, brought up the encryption code to anonymize her session, then hopped on the Internet.

  “Grab a piece of paper from the printer,” she said. “And there’s a pen in my desk drawer.”

  “What am I writing down?”

  “Whatever notes you need to take on all the things I’m about to show you.”

  For the next hour, Jill taught Annika how to move about on the web in a way that no spying eyes could see her. She gave her the addresses for chat rooms and message boards for the underground sections of the web. She taught Annika the code words to use when she introduced herself to these people, and the etiquette required when she was talking to them. She didn’t tell Annika that the people on these boards were subversives, who had either run afoul of the clan or were actively fighting against them. She didn’t need to. There was an unspoken understanding between them. Jill didn’t tell Annika anything more than what she absolutely needed to know, and Annika didn’t ask questions.

  “Find some time this weekend when you know you’ll be alone,” Jill told her. “Go to the message board and find someone who can make you a Brazilian passport, and an American one. They’ll tell you exactly where to go and what to do, all the way down to what clothing to wear. Follow their instructions exactly. If you give them any reason not to trust you, you won’t get a thing from them.”

  “So I’m going to make two passports for Shannon, one from Brazil and one from America.”

  “You’re going to make two for Shannon, and two for you. You’re going to make up new names for both of you. You’re going to get out of America using an alias, and once you’re gone, you’re never going to be Annika Fleming again.”

  “Got it,” Annika said, her voice quivering.

  Next, Jill showed Annika how to open a bank account in Switzerland.

  “You’ll need two accounts,” she said. “You’ll open one under your real name, and one under your alias. These accounts will not be the final parking place for your money. They’re just to hide your tracks.”

  Annika filled her page with notes on front and back. Jill grabbed her another sheet of paper.

  “Now we need to talk about your phone. I’ve already secured it so you can talk to Shannon. But we need to lock it down in a way that you can disappear entirely.”

  She had Annika write down a sequence of steps, starting in the settings section of her phone, then continuing through a download of an illegal software patch on her computer.

  “You need to do this on Shannon’s phone as well, then the two of you need to make a pact that you will only speak on the phone when you know the other party has a secure connection. Once you’re on the run, the clan will add the sound of your voice to its database, and its software will listen for you throughout the world.”

  “God, that’s sounds awful,” Annika said.

  “It doesn’t have to be,” said Jill. “There are people who can help you stay hidden. There are things you can do, tools you can use, to live a normal life. Let me show you.”

  Now Jill took Annika on a tour of the most secret places on the Internet, places where the Network roamed. She taught Annika how to introduce herself, how to describe her situation.

  “Once you make contact with these people, you are part of the Network,” Jill said.

  “The Network,” Annika whispered.

  Annika was looking right at Jill, her mouth falling open, recognition dawning in her eyes.

  “Being in the Network doesn’t mean you’re actively engaged in the war against the clan,” Jill said, “but it does mean you are part of the cause. They will ask you to make your home available as a safe house for agents on assignment. They will ask if you want to do more to help. You can do as much or as little as you choose.”

  “Nicky,” Annika said quietly. “You and Nicky. The Coronation contest.”

  “I’ve never said anything about me and Nicky being in the Network, Annika. Do you understand?”

  “I understand. But Jill, if I leave, Nicky’s Coronation bid--”

  “Nicky’s Coronation bid is over, Annika. Kim Renwick may be an evil, conniving bitch, but she’s smart enough to see the writing on the wall. When she told you Nicky doesn’t have a chance, she was right. It’s no accident that this first Ransom clue is so hard. Renata wants Nicky dead.”

  “And Ryan?” Annika said, shivering a bit as she spoke.

  “Ryan was unlucky enough to be with Nicky when they took her,” Jill said.

  They sat in silence for a minute, the truth of what Jill was saying settling in like a dark cloud over the room. Everything they had worked for since the Masquerade was lost. The miracle of Nicky Bloom’s Coronation bid was done.

  Jill broke the silence, saying, “Pack a bag the minute you have the passports, even if you have no intention of using it for months.”

  “Be ready at a moment’s notice,” Annika said quietly, nodding her head.

  “Your bag should be the bare minimum of what you’ll need to survive until you’re settled into a new life,” Jill said. “Some clothes, your passports, all these notes you’re taking tonight, and lots of cash. You’ll be living cash only for months. Once you’ve come to the final spot where you want to stay, the Network will help you access your money in a way it can never be traced to you.”

  “And then I need to hide the bag somewhere no one can find it,” Annika said.

  “Precisely.”

  “Do you…you know...”

  “Yes, I’ve had a getaway bag packed for a long time,” Jill said. “Come here, I’ll show you.”

  Jill led Annika into the closet, grabbed the step stool to access the top shelf, and pulled down her bag.

  “I actually sewed a patch in the bottom of this bag,” Jill said, showing Annika how it works. “If someone opens it from the top, it looks like I’ve just got a bunch of gym clothes in here. To get at the good stuff, you have to know to open up the bottom.”

  Jill pulled back the bottom panel, giving Annika a quick peek of what was inside.

  “Good gravy, Jill, how many passports do you have in there?”

  “Enough to get wherever I may need to go,” Jill said. She
closed the bag and put it back on the top shelf. As she slid it into place, she accidently knocked down a ring she had been keeping up there. Annika bent down to pick it up.

  “Is this….this looks just like Karmela’s ring,” Annika said, holding it up to the light.

  “It is Karmela’s ring. It was going to be my big plan for winning the Rose Ransom.”

  “Huh? Karmela’s ring was going to win the Rose Ransom?”

  “After the Date Auction, I pulled a fast one on Karmela. The old switcheroo. She doesn’t know it, but the ring she’s wearing right now is a fake. I had an imitation made that had a tracking device built into it.”

  Annika let out a single, sharp laugh. “You thought Karmela was going to be the princess! Oh, that would have been so rich.”

  Annika turned the ring over in her fingers, admiring the engraving and the color of the stone.

  “It’s a shame things didn’t work out,” she said.

  “You know, I really should find a way to get the real ring back on Karmela’s finger,” Jill said. “It’s so important to her and her family. It’s kind of awful what I did to her.”

  “I’ll do it,” Annika said. “Karmela and I have second period together. I’ll keep this ring with me and find a way to switch it back. She’ll never know what happened.”

  “Really, Annika. It’s okay. With everything we’ve got going on--”

  “I’m going to do it, end of discussion” Annika said. “And if there’s anything else I can do to repay you for all you’ve done, you let me know.”

  “I think what’s most important is that you and Shannon get someplace safe.”

  Annika threw her arms around Jill and pulled her close.

  “Thank you,” she whispered. “For everything.”

  A few minutes later, Jill opened the front door for Annika and they said good night. Jill sat on the front porch until Annika’s car turned out of the neighborhood. She came back inside and lurched up the stairs, her legs heavy with exhaustion. When she got to her room, she noticed the light was off.

  She didn’t remember turning off the light.

  She reached inside the door and hit the light switch. She saw him standing in the corner, silent as a shadow.

  “Tarin,” she said. “Am I glad to see you.”

  Chapter 27

  “How did you get in here?” Jill said.

  “I didn’t want your friend to see me, so I came through the back door,” said Tarin.

  “But…”

  Jill wanted to ask him how he got the back door open, how he got onto the grounds, how he moved through the house without anyone hearing him, how he didn’t trigger any of the alarms that she knew were set because she had to disarm them to let Annika out.

  She sighed and shook her head. This was a guy who had found a way to get into Renata’s mansion and live undercover as one of her slaves. He was the guy who snuck her into Renata’s crypt, somehow having gotten his hands on Renata’s cell phone. The security at Jill’s house was trivial to someone like Tarin.

  “You want your keys back?” Jill asked.

  “Keys?” Tarin said.

  “You left me alone in her crypt with a set of keys. I held them in my hand all during the Rose Ransom performance.”

  “Where are they now?” Tarin said.

  “In the top drawer of my desk.”

  “Leave them there. We are more likely to get caught if I try to put them back at this point.”

  Tarin reached down and lifted a brown leather bag off the floor.

  “I brought the laptop you used in the hack,” he said.

  “That’s good, I guess. What do you want me to do with it?”

  Tarin pulled the laptop out of the bag and opened it on Jill’s desk. “The hack worked. I have access to Renata’s phone on this machine, but something’s wrong. I need you to look at it and tell me what you see.”

  “Alright. Move out of the way so I can have a look,” Jill said.

  She sat in front of the laptop, brought up the hack of Renata’s phone, and started clicking around. It was perfect. They had complete access right in front of them.

  “Everything looks good,” Jill said. “Why do you think something’s wrong?”

  “Because I’ve watched it for a week and nothing has happened,” said Tarin. “We’re only getting the most boring phone calls and emails. Billing from the party she just held, benign correspondence with boring people, and a few games of Internet chess.”

  “Maybe she’s had a boring week,” said Jill.

  “No, I know there’s more to this. There is something we’re not seeing.”

  “Tarin, I’m looking at this phone—we’re seeing everything. Is it possible she has a second phone?”

  “No. I’ve been watching her. One phone for everything, even the conversations where she ducks away and speaks softly.”

  “Has she had one of those conversations this week?”

  “She’s had several, and I can’t find any on the laptop. We’re not seeing everything. I need you to figure it out.”

  Jill rolled her eyes. Another thing to add to her to-do list.

  “It would be easier if I had some help,” she said.

  “I can’t help you with this. I don’t know computers like you do.”

  “It doesn’t have to be you. It could be anybody. Where is everybody, Tarin?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I’ve emailed everyone I know in the Network, and no one is emailing me back. You’re the only person who is talking to me.”

  Tarin stood in place for a moment. Jill looked up at him and saw a confused look on his face.

  “Jill, your old mission is over. Your contacts aren’t able to talk to you.”

  “What? I don’t understand.”

  “Code Orange,” said Tarin. “The mission is done. Everyone fled. You are on a new mission now. I am your only contact.”

  “Are you saying nobody’s getting my emails?”

  “Of course they aren’t. We can’t have you in contact with people who aren’t on your mission. You know how the Network operates.”

  Jill couldn’t believe her ears.

  “Are you telling me that, all week long, all those notes I sent…they’re just floating out into nothing?”

  “I have no idea where they’re going—computers are your thing, Jill, not mine—but I do know they’re not being read. The Network has sealed you off for your own safety.”

  “But that doesn’t make me any safer. All this time I thought I had help out there, and it turns out I’m all alone? How come nobody told me about this?”

  “What is there to tell, Jill? It’s standard protocol. Everyone in the Network operates in a tightly controlled cell. Nobody knows anything they don’t need to know. It has to be that way. The more connected we are, the greater the risk that we all get exposed if a vampire catches any one of us. ”

  “Yes, I understand all that, but I needed help this week and no one was giving it to me! I was completely alone out here!”

  Tarin stepped close. He leaned down and put his face right in front of Jill’s.

  “You’re not alone,” he said. “You and I are working together.”

  There was an energy to his presence. Hearing him say the words, his face inches from her own, Jill got a sense of how this man was able to step into a vampire’s mansion and make everyone believe he was who he claimed to be. There was so much confidence in his voice, so much charisma…it was silly that a few words could make her feel so much better, but they did.

  I am not alone.

  “We need more, Tarin,” she said. She was calm now, her voice quiet. “We need support from the Network. A Network agent and…a friend--”

  “I know all about Nicky and Ryan, and I’ll help you with the Ransom clue.”

  “There isn’t any help you can give,” Jill said. “The first clue is impossible to solve.”

  “It’s not impossible,” Tarin said. He spoke the words with such authorit
y that Jill believed him. She felt a surge of optimism just hearing his voice.

  “But first, before we work on that clue,” he continued. “I need you to help me with Renata’s phone. She is up to something. It’s urgent that we figure out what it is.”

  “I’m glad to help, Tarin. But I’ve got a lot going on right now.”

  “If I took the first Ransom clue off your plate, then would you be able to help me?”

  “Well yeah, but the first Ransom clue--”

  “I’ve already solved it,” said Tarin. “Come with me.”

  Chapter 28

  Tarin had a black sedan parked on the other side of the street. Jill wondered if he stole the car from Renata’s mansion, but said nothing. They were on assignment after all. If she didn’t need to know, she didn’t need to ask.

  He took her south on Highway 270, driving out of Potomac.

  “You are correct to assume the clue isn’t meant to be solved,” Tarin said. “Renata made it difficult on purpose. But it isn’t impossible. Even though Renata’s intent is for the Rose Ransom to go unpaid this year and for Nicky and Ryan to die, she has still crafted a game for everyone to play. She can’t help herself. As an immortal, it’s in her nature. She wants to treat all of you like her toys, and to her, it’s fun to give a clue that has everyone chasing their own tails and proving that they aren’t nearly as smart as she is. There is a solution to this clue, but to figure it out, you have to think like a vampire. You have to put yourself inside Renata’s mind.”

  They crossed the river and Tarin veered into an exit lane.

  “So what is it then?” Jill said. “Where are you taking me?”

  “When fifty summers have thickened your skin,” Tarin began, speaking in a sing-song voice, as if he were a teacher about to give a lesson.

  “Stop it. I am so, so tired and I don’t want to think about the clue anymore,” said Jill. “Renata’s already playing games with us. Just tell me the answer.”

  “The answer is a cemetery,” Tarin said.