Page 32 of Stormhold

I knew for a fact that he didn’t have anything on his schedule this afternoon, as his meeting with Marcus Stormhold was a couple of hours away. So what was it doing here now?

A chill wind swept across my face as I pulled the sleeves of my sweater down, trying to stretch my limbs through the narrow space. They felt as hard as bricks, and I was exhausted from the lack of sleep.

Ten minutes later, the front door opened, and Timothy Walters walked out in hurried steps, a handkerchief pressed to his lips as his gaze swept right and left before he dashed into the back seat of the car. I watched as the Mercedes sped out of the gate, and not even a second later, a black Land Rover followed them, keeping a close distance. Arkane’s men.

My bones felt stiff as I jumped off the tree and gathered my bag, then rushed out through the gap I had left in the property’s fence. I had already paged a Valerian transport to pick me up. The good thing about being in the S-class grade was that I could summon anything I wanted and get it within minutes. The car was already waiting for me by the time I made it out, so I slid right in and asked the driver to follow the GPS I had bugged on the Land Rover. It wasn’t even ten minutes as we drove through the Uppers roads, along the tall skyscrapers and luxury architecture, that we reached the Twins National Bank.

What did a nonresident have to do in our city’s bank?

Guess I would have to find out.

Nodding thanks to the Valerian associate, I jumped out of the car, drawing my baseball cap lower before I entered the bank. A quick walk through the metal detectors led me to the grand foyer with its expensive marble floors and gold-tipped pillars. The place was bustling with the afternoon crowd. I noted all the security guards stationed in place. It was doubled, just like Arkane had said, but nothing seemed unusual.

I wasn’t a great spy, but I was good at blending in, and I was regular at this bank, so I knew the layout. As long as no one caught me off guard, I was golden.

I was thankful for the outfit I chose instead of my usual dress. The loose black sweatpants, knit sweater, and sneakers made me look more like a college kid and drew me less attention.

I stood in the longest line to the teller as I kept an eye around, but Timothy Walters was nowhere in sight. Where the hell did he go?

Ten minutes later, a motion caught my eye to the far left near the winding staircase. It was Timothy Walters talking to a man I didn’t recognize as they descended the stairs. I knew that part of the bank was where the private safes were. Did he hold something in a safety deposit box? Was that why they needed entry into the Twins?

Without thinking, I took the chance as I lowered my gaze to the floor and dashed toward him at high speed.

“If you have time, I would love to talk about a new business idea I have in mind.” I heard the man, whom I assumed to be some sort of bank manager, tell him as I neared them.

“Unfortunately, my time is of the essence today,” Timothy said in his mousy tone, tapping his watch. His voice was no longer broken or as weak as it once was. Even then, I didn’t like hearing it again after all these years. The man who killed my family was so close to me, close enough that I could kill him, but there wasn’t anything I could do about it. At least for now.

“Of course, Mr. Walters. I hope to see you again,” the manager replied with a saccharine smile.

My skin prickled at our proximity when my shoulders almost brushed his as I angled toward him, which gave me three seconds to drop my bug into his pocket and evade him before he caught wind of my actions. I immediately dashed toward the restrooms without looking back and threw my head back against the wall, screwing my lids shut. I already had a feeling this was going to be a very long day, and it was just getting started.

“Thanks for coming and getting me,” I said, dropping into the passenger seat of my sister’s car minutes later. “Can you follow that car?” I pointed at the black Mercedes that had just picked up Timothy Walters.

“Why are you dressed like that?” Ella’s wide blue eyes swept over me and then at the busy road as she slowly inched our car toward the Mercedes.

My sister worked in the Twin City Courthouse, which was only a few minutes away from here, and trailing him in her car seemed less suspect, so I sent her a page. Thankfully, she responded, telling me she’d be here in a few.

“It’s all I could wear,” I mumbled.

“What are you even doing here at the bank?” She frowned. “I thought you wouldn’t be home for two days.” The hardest part of my life was keeping my identity as a Valerian assassin a secret while still not lying to my sisters. So, for the most part, I stayed quiet, and my sisters mostly brushed me off as the weird one, which worked well for me. The three of us had our distinct characteristics, maybe shaped by our past, or maybe, in my case, it was just the way we were, but we never spoke a word of it.

A loud, wailing honk from a huge white van made our car stop abruptly in the middle of the road, causing commotion from all sides.

“Why are we even following them?” Ella questioned, her back upright and her arms stiff as she maneuvered the car through the traffic. Though it was almost the end of the workday, not one strand of her golden hair was out of place from her half-up hairdo, which was perfectly pinned in place with a barrette. Even her checkered shirt was pin-straight, buttoned to the collar and neatly tucked into her knee-length pleated skirt. Ella had a peculiar style, one that people would comment on as prim and proper. Either way, she was the most stunningly beautiful out of us three.

“I’m following him,” I muttered, keeping my eyes on the car ahead.

“You just repeated what I said,” Ella muttered, sighing before she glanced at me. “I’m worried about you, Bellebelle. You always disappear somewhere and tend to do the most random things. And you don’t even have a phone. How am I supposed to get to you if you’re in trouble?”

“I have this.” I flashed her a smile, waving my pager.

“You mean that ancient device you make us carry? Half the time, I don’t even know how to use it or if it even works,” she muttered. “People give me weird looks.”

I smiled before dragging my eyes back to the Mercedes, only to be confused about the direction they were taking.

“Something’s wrong,” I whispered, frowning. “That’s the third left.”

“I suppose,” Ella mumbled. “Why? Should they not?”