Atonement (Master's Protege 2)

“Babe,” Cain says, then shakes his head. “Violet. How did you discover that your mother was an assassin?”

“She had this book…. That I keep. The one I gave Henri just now. It’s partially a diary, but she also had all sorts of things scribbled and scrawled into it. She liked to draw and color little doodles and things like that. I took it with me that day you took me from my place and brought me to yours.”

Ah, right. She distracted me and asked me to take something she never used out of the drawer in her bedside table and didn’t think I saw her take a book out of the closet and tuck it into her bag. My job is to not miss details. I rarely do.

“Right.”

“And in the book… well, she has a few strange things. Like she has pictures she drew of me as a baby, sitting by a crib, sitting in a highchair, eating baby food. But then there’s one with my eyes colored violet, and next to it she’s written in cursive, Violet Price. It’s why I took that name…” her voice trails off.

“I gave it to Henri and gave him my theory on the names and payouts. She’s mentioned Greenlief, Whittier, and Whitman.”

Skylar frowns. “You know Greenlief Whittier’s a private bank in Salem?”

Violet blinks. “No, I didn’t know that.”

Skylar whips out her phone and starts typing away. “Whoa. Babe. We need to go there next.”

“Why?”

“The CEO of the bank’s name is Whitman. He knows something, Vi. He knows something big.”

“Hit the GPS, Sky.”

“Are they following us?” Violet looks out the rearview mirror, and I follow her gaze. About thirty yards back, a sleek black Town Car’s behind us. I frown and take a quick left then a right, and half a minute later, the Town Car’s behind us again.

“Oh yeah.”

“From the Rossis?”

“No… I don’t think so. But let’s keep an eye on them.”

“God, I hope someone attacks us. I would kill to beat the shit out of someone right about now. All this pent-up energy.”

“Same,” I mutter. She frowns.

“We’re five minutes out, but I don’t trust this guy following us,” Sky says. “Anyone got a weapon for me just in case?”

“Yeah, you can borrow this.” Violet reaches into her bra and pulls out her tiniest throwing blade. “Remember how I taught you to throw it at the jugular to kill, side of the neck to injure and incapacitate.”

Skylar squeals like Violet just gave her a box of her favorite chocolates. “Oooh, you didn’t have to. Thank you! Can you teach me—”

Violet shakes her head. “No, Sky. Not now. I’ll be moving out once this is finished.”

My gut clenches.

Skylar nods, her face downcast like a girl who just lost her dog.

The bank sits on the corner of Oak Street and Institution Drive, a stately-looking building complete with red brick walls. The cold of autumn’s struck the tree branches bare, but a few brown and orange leaves have fluttered to the ground around us as we enter the bank.

Violet looks at the names on the walls. “Ah, there he is. And look, the little indicator says he’s here today.” I look to where she points, to a red and green lighted workstation indicating who’s in today and their hours. He’s in.

“You two go outside,” Violet says. “I need to do this alone.”

“Like hell you’ll—”

“I mean it,” she says in that voice that means business. “Don’t you dare try to patronize me or help me. It’s important that I do this.”

I nod. I understand. Skylar’s jaw drops, and she starts shaking her head. “Skylar,” I say warningly. Skylar sighs. “Alright, alright.”

Violet continues in as we step back outside. We watch as Violet approaches an elderly man sitting at a desk, tapping away on his keyboard. She stands in his doorway and says something, and he looks up at her.

“Wish I could hear them from here,” I mutter. “Can’t hear a damn thing.”

Skylar groans. “Same. I wanna know what the hell is going on in there.”

“You’re just as nosy as I am.”

She snorts. “Hardly. Okay, so listen. While she’s in there, you have to listen to me.”

I nod.

Skylar continues, “I saw the videos. You know I did. I didn’t want to be the one to tell her so I let you do that dirty work. You spied on her, huh?”

I nod, still watching Violet. The man at the desk pushes himself to standing and reaches for something. I feel myself tensing. I want to go in there and protect her so badly, my body aches from the tension.

I release a breath when he reaches for an envelope and pushes a button, then gestures for her to come with him.

“Stand down, Cain,” Skylar warns. “Stand. Down.” She squints and looks over my shoulder.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” she says, shaking her head. “Thought I saw something just now. Huh. Okay, so listen. You fucked up, dude. Big time. You watched her on video and I’m gonna guess you didn’t tell her about those.”