“You found the Easter egg I asked Dex to hide for you. I’m glad. I’ve been waiting for your call.”

It took Evan a moment to adjust to the sound of that voice again, especially here within the walls of his own place. He realized he was on his feet, pacing around the Vault. “Why’s that?” he asked.

“I wanted to talk to you. Set a few things straight.”

“There’s nothing you can say that will change what’s coming.”

“That’s where I tend to think ahead. You see, given what I know of you, I thought you stood a reasonable chance of getting out of that valley alive. I don’t know how you did it, but count me impressed. I’ve never had the opportunity to … behold a specimen like you.”

“I’m planning to give you another chance. To behold me.”

“That’s what I assumed. Which is why I took out an insurance policy.”

“Which is what?”

“Despi.”

Evan stopped pacing.

“You thought you were clever knocking out a few of my surveillance cameras. But did you really think we couldn’t regulate you in that room? We had full audio. You should’ve heard yourself, pathetic and delusional, babbling into a broken phone, talking to … talking to whom? Who were you talking to like your life depended on it?”

“Myself.”

“I guess you were.” René laughed. “But my favorite listening came from the snippets we picked up of your conversations with Despi. The woeful tale of her kidnapping. How we kept a loving eye on her parents, her sister. We listened to you two form your fragile little bond. I know you care about her. I know you’d be upset if any harm came to her.”

Evan was gripping the phone too hard, the tension radiating up into his right shoulder, fanning the flames. “Yes,” he said. “I would.”

“We have men in Despi’s vicinity, watching her just as they did her sister, her parents. You’re familiar with the work they did there?”

“I am.”

“She’ll be left alone if you leave me alone,” René said. “So decide if your need for revenge is worth her life. You’ve failed her once already.” The brief pause was underscored by the faint hum of the connection. “If I get the tiniest indication that you’re within a hundred miles of me, I will have her gutted.”

“What makes you think I’ll give you the tiniest indication?” Evan said, and cut the line.

66. Banged Up in All the Right Ways

66

Banged Up in All the Right Ways