Evie stared. There he was, Mr. M. And flanking him, as they often did, were Mr. I and Mr. K. Of course. Of course they would be waiting for them. But she wasn’t scared. She had four tough explorers and one fellow member of the Daring Duo behind her.
“Where is he?” she demanded. “Where’s my grandfather?” She was so ready for a fight that she balled her hands into fists and held them in front as if she’d totally know how to punch someone if she had to. Which she didn’t.
Mr. M stepped forward, and she took in a breath. She wouldn’t be intimidated.
“We know he kicked you out of the society and that’s why you want revenge. He had better be okay! Where is he?” She was getting a little desperate, a little scared, thinking that maybe he wasn’t okay. What if he wasn’t okay?
“Evie,” said Catherine. Here was the typical warning Evie was getting pretty used to, that she was behaving badly, but how could you behave badly in the face of evil thugs? The only way would be to not behave badly. Yes! Behaving not badly was behaving badly.
“We’ll take you to him,” said Mr. M in his customarily pleasant way. “Follow me, please.” He extended his arm.
“It’s a trap,” said Evie.
“What do you want with him? Ransom? The map? Is that why you’re holding him hostage?” asked the Kid. Evie could hear the emotion in his voice.
“If you come with us, we’ll explain everything. Away from the tourists,” replied Mr. M, giving them a meaningful look with his one eye.
“We don’t trust you,” said Catherine.
“You don’t have to. But you don’t get to see him if you refuse.”
Evie stared at him. Then at Catherine. At Benedict. The Kid. Doris. And lastly, Sebastian. They’d taken these men on at the airport. They could fight them again if they needed to.
“Okay,” said Evie.
“I agree,” said Benedict.
“But tell me first,” said Evie quickly. “Tell me…” She swallowed and then raised her chin. “Is he still alive?”
Mr. M stood, frozen for a moment. Then finally he said, “Yes.”
Evie felt every muscle in her body relax, so much so that she almost collapsed, and had to steady herself.
“Okay,” she said. “Let’s go.”
They were led away from the ship by Mr. M, with Mr. K glowering at them in the middle of their group, and Mr. I following in the rear. They must have appeared quite interesting to the tourists, walking along as they did. Seven solemn adults, two scared kids. Everyone in interesting outfits that didn’t seem practical for visiting tourist attractions. But Evie didn’t mind standing out. It made them memorable, and being remembered was important because, well, because…in case.
They went back toward the boardwalk and turned and followed along it until they reached a very modern apartment building, low, with only three floors, made of glass and ironwork. They passed through the front doors and managed somehow to squeeze themselves together into the elevator.
It was kind of funny. Especially watching Mr. K trying to keep his scowl while shifting about to get more room. Mr. M just seemed to be enjoying the whole thing.
The door opened. All of them tumbled from the elevator into what turned out to be an apartment. Not even the hallway. Evie would have been impressed if she hadn’t been shaking with anticipation.
“Where is he?” she demanded again, and then realized, right at this moment, that she was the only one demanding, and also that the others didn’t seem to be stopping her from demanding.
She searched around, making her eyes wide so that she could see every nook and cranny. She took in the space. It was all white and gray, with windows that overlooked the Thames. A large gray world map was framed on the wall, and a big, silver globe sat in the corner. All the furniture was also white with gray, and had black accent pillows. And a spiral staircase in the middle of the room led to more space above. It was all very fancy and also kind of cold and impersonal.
“Lots of maps,” said Sebastian under his breath, and Evie turned to him. He looked at her. She remembered sitting in his room, examining all the items from the puzzle box. The look of Sebastian’s maps on the walls. It felt like so long ago.
Map on the wall…
Why did it seem familiar?
“What’s going on?” asked Catherine. Her voice had a hard edge.
Evie saw that she and Sebastian were standing ahead of the group. The adults were standing in a row, slowly looking around in different directions, taking in the apartment, and then it clicked in her mind—where she’d seen the map before.
In a picture.
Behind the team.
There was just one person missing.
“My old friends,” said a voice from above.
And suddenly time stopped. And Evie looked up.
“Alistair,” said Catherine, stepping farther into the room. “What have you done?”