“Hey,” Michael said quietly as he woke up beside me.

He tried to reach over and hold me but winced when he went to move.

“Yeah, you’re pretty beat-up,” I said. “You should really try to lay still.”

I leaned over and put my head gently on his shoulder so that he could stay put.

“You should have seen the other guys,” he joked.

“I did, as Julian was dragging them all out of the apartment to bury them in a hole.”

“Wow, I didn’t think Julian had it in him to take care of something like that.”

“Yeah,” I said. “Me neither.”

“Speaking of which, did I dream it, or did he hear me say—”

“You didn’t dream it,” I interrupted. “Everyone knows.”

“Sorry,” he sighed. “I’m sure that puts you in a tough spot with both of them.”

“Actually, Adam was pretty cool about it. Julian was not happy.”

“Adam’s a good guy; just don’t tell him I said that. He’s put up with a lot of shit, and not once has he ever betrayed me.”

“Can I ask you another question?” I asked.

“I’m pretty sure that anything you ask from here on out won’t be as bad as what I’ve already told you, so yeah, shoot.”

“Why did you bring Adam into Lineage? He said you pleaded with your mom until she agreed to take him in.”

He nodded. “He’s right, I did.”

“Seems a little uncharacteristic of you,” I said.

But then again, there were so many things that I had been wrong about Michael, so who was I to say.

“He was there that night,” Michael said. “He saw me sneak into the halfway house, and he saw me sneak out. Because he had been a witness to what happened, they told me to kill him. So, instead of killing the poor guy, I made a deal with him instead.”

“What kind of deal?”

He sighed. “That if you ever started getting too close to solving your mother’s murder, that he would dissuade you from going any further.”

“Well, that didn’t work out too well, did it,” I said.

“No,” he laughed a little until his ribs moved. “I guess it didn’t. But he kept a good watch over you, and he became a good friend to me.”

“You saved a lot of people’s lives that night, apparently,” I said.

He shrugged. “But I wasn’t able to save your mom.”

I heard the front door open and close, and then Adam appeared in the bedroom doorway.

“Hey, you’re up,” he said to Michael. “How are you feeling?”

“Like shit. How come you’re not as beat-up as me? I thought I was a better fighter than you,” Michael joked.

Adam grinned. “Eh, it’s only because you dealt out most of the damage.”

“See?” Michael said to me. “What did I tell you? He’s a good friend?”

Adam laughed. “Now I definitely know you hit your head too hard. I hate your guts.”

It was nice to see the two of them bantering like brothers, even if they were rivals in more ways than one.

“Where’s Julian?” I asked.

He thumbed over his shoulder. “He’s out in the kitchen making some food. He’s okay, Lisette. Just give him a bit.”

“Okay,” I said. “Thanks for checking on him.”

Adam nodded and then went back out to crash on the couch for a bit.

“Thank you,” I said to Michael as I curled against him and tried to fall back asleep for a little bit longer.

“For what?”

I licked my lips. “For helping my mom write the note.”

I felt his breathe pause for a minute, then his arm wrap around me as I fell back asleep.

When I woke up again, it was dark out. I slipped out from beneath Michael's arms and walked out into the apartment. Everyone was sleeping. I quietly took a pen from out of a mug that was sitting on the kitchen counter and grabbed a napkin. I strained my eyes in the dark to see the words that I was writing.

They’re mostly after me. Please leave all of you. I can’t live with any more death around me.

I didn’t have anything else to say. It wasn’t a very good note, but it was all I wanted to write…leave, please.

I left the note on the kitchen table and quietly opened the front door and slipped out. They would all be furious in the morning when they found out that I had gone. I just hoped that they didn’t try to be heroic and foolish and that for once, they just listened to me and left. It’s not like they could be much help in their condition anyway, so maybe that would be enough to make them realize they should go.

I needed to hide somewhere that no one would find me, not the guys, and not Lineage. I also needed to be somewhere that I could easily get into the charity event, which was also being held at the aquarium. Of course, the answer to that was right in front of my face, the rooftop garden. When the aquarium opened in the morning, I paid for a single-day admission and went inside. I still had my hoodie on and sunglasses; to be honest, I looked like shit, but I also didn’t stand out. I walked the aquarium halls for a few minutes, so it didn’t look like I was making a beeline straight to the rooftop. There weren’t that many people there since it was still early. When I got my chance to slip unnoticed into the stairwell, I did.

The rooftop looked as if they were planning one of those privately rented parties. There were tables set up with big floral centerpieces and stand-alone lamps brought up to increase the lighting. That must mean that the event is going to be in the evening. I still needed to find out when the Lineage charity event was going to be held here. From the murmurs around campus, it sounded like it would be within the next few days, but I wasn’t sure exactly when. Maybe some of the staff at tonight’s party would be talking about it, and it would give me a chance to overhear. I also needed to find something to wear besides these dirty jeans and a hoodie. I was sure that the security at the charity event would be maxed-out, so I had to do everything I could to look the part of an invited guest until I had my chance to expose them.

Shit, I hope I had remembered to grab my phone. I reached in my pocket and pulled it out. The battery was only three-quarters charged, so I switched the settings down and put it on airplane mode. That would avoid any incoming calls and messages that the guys would try to send me once they woke up and realized that I was gone.

I tried not to think about that too much because it hurt.

I had to think about how I was going to survive staying on a rooftop for a couple days and ambushing a dangerous party without getting killed until after I exposed these evil people for who and what they were.