Page 140 of The Session

“What happens when somebody at Summit decides they want to go after someone and they have access to their entire past?” Diane asked. “It’s not hypothetical. It’s happened. Do you want that over your head?”

He’d been bothered by what Summit knew, but he didn’t want to give it any more mental weight than everything else he was dealing with.

“You’re quiet, so I can tell you’re thinking it over. Things are about to get very, very intense, Mark. And I can help you before it’s too late,” she offered.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“I know you don’t have all the information we need, but you probably know who does. And that’s all we’re looking for—just some guidance.”

“Guidance,” Mark repeated.

“You won’t be the only one. I shouldn’t be telling you this, but we have somebody else on the inside who’s been helping us make sense of things.”

Mark’s ears perked up. He had the sense she was telling the truth. Who else was she speaking to? If it had been Blaise, she probably would have asked where he was right now. Was it Tru? Marnie?

“If you’ve already got a source inside, why do you need me?”

“It’s helpful to have somebody corroborate the story,” she explained.

Or maybe Diane didn’t trust their inside person. Of course, if she was dealing with anybody from Summit, chances were they had their own angle.

“What was your incentive for this other insider?” Mark asked.

“Let’s just say they appear to have developed a conscience and wanted to make things right.”

“That doesn’t sound very Summit Strategies to me,” Mark said.

“Stranger things have happened,” she said.

“So what is this person not able to help you with?”

“The Vault.”

“Which I also can’t help you with.”

“All I need is a location.”

“You might as well ask me for a map to Narnia, because I’m skeptical either exists.”

Diane looked at her phone for a moment. “Well, you should think about that—and the sooner, the better.” She stood up and straightened her skirt. “It must have been difficult growing up without your father, but not everybody is who we want them to be.”

“Is there something else I should know?”

“Even good people can make terrible decisions,” Diane replied.

Mark watched her walk away and wondered if the Vault represented more than he’d understood.

He spotted Tru walking toward him from the other end of the beach.

“Who were you talking to?” Tru asked when she reached him.

Without hesitation, he lied. “Some bored guest. What’s going on?”

“Marnie just sent me a text and said we need to go to their bungalow. It’s an emergency.”

Was this what Diane had warned him about?

Escape Plan