32. Winter

THIRTY-TWO

WINTER

" Y ou know, for imprisonment, the digs ain't half bad," Veronica says as she curls up on the corner of the massive couch, throwing popcorn in her mouth. She misses only half the time.

Rather than a traditional sofa, our seating is a raised platform with pillows. It could sleep a bunch of people comfortably and it's the thing teenage sleepover dreams are made of.

Summer coos in her sleep, and I look over at her reflexively. She's such a precious baby, and she looks so much like Veronica it's uncanny. In the flicker of the video playing on the screen-slash-wall in front of us, I almost start to cry when she pokes her little tongue out like she's sucking a bottle in her dreams.

"Yeah," Ella says, her voice flat. She curls up under the blankets, staring at the screen. She's in the exact spot I was on Valentine's Day.

Since Hunter returned and told her about her father's death, Ella has become withdrawn. She didn't cry like I'd expected her to. Instead, she went silent. She asked Hunter if he wanted to have a funeral for Benjamin, to which Hunter said no and then left it all at that .

This is the first time I've seen her in a full day.

"This movie is funny. I have never seen this actor. What is his name?" August says.

"Adam Sandler," Veronica calls from her corner. She takes a large chug of her White Claw.

"If you like this one, you'll love his backlist. The Waterboy a hundred percent could not have been made in today's world, but it's hilarious," I tell August.

"Can we watch it next?" August says.

"Of course, Augs." I tap his shoulder, giving it a slight squeeze.

I look at my watch, frowning when I notice it's been three hours since Hunter left without a word. Well, he did leave a word. A text. A text that had me wanting to throw myself into his arms and say, "Forget it! I'll stay prisoner here as long as you love me."

I wanted to see him before he left, but if I'm honest? I stayed in our room to give myself space to think about everything. And in my contemplation, I realized that I don't know who I'm turning into. The Winter Before Hunter wasn't a pushover. She was strong, a little naive, but brave.

Winter After Hunter is….

I don't know who that person is.

I'm livid about what Hunter did, so I resent the bubble of anxiety that wells up when we're apart.

You are safe in this house, I chant to myself.

"I'm hungry," August says.

"Want some popcorn?" Veronica says.

"He doesn't eat popcorn," Ella and I say at the same time. I smile at Ella, but the quick flick of her eyes to my face is the only acknowledgment I receive.

"I am going to get Cheese-Itz. I will be right back."

August scoots off the sofa and exits the room, closing the door behind him.

He took the news of the pregnancy really well. I was still seething at Hunter when we met up in the game room to break the news, but I pulled it together for August.

I'd do anything for August.

I don't know when I started to embody the role of August's stepmother. I know I'll never replace his actual mother, nor will I ever try to. But along the way, August went from being a kid I liked to my son.

I wonder how he'd feel if I were to call him that?

I must be making a face because Veronica's sock-clad foot pokes my side.

"What's up, chica?" She tilts her head to the side, rocking her White Claw gently from side to side.

I blow out a breath. "It's the hormones," I say, waving away the concern. Kitty huffs at the movement, settling back into my side.

"I still can't believe you're knocked up, Winter," Ella says in a ponderous tone. She looks up to face us both.

"I can't believe it either," I say.

"Really?" Veronica pipes up. "Do you need me to have the talk with you again? Because with how much you and Hunter fu?—"

"Uh, God, please don't." Ella groans from beneath her pile of blankets. Through one of the cracks, her hand snakes out to grab a sour straw.

Veronica cackles, and I rocket one of the forty throw pillows at her.

"I'm so excited to be an aunt again," Ella says in a voice that sounds anything but excited. "What do you want, a boy or girl?"

I think about her words, and I'm thrown off guard. I haven't thought much about the sex of the baby or what I'd prefer. I want to get through the pregnancy uneventfully.

"I just wanna get them gestated and out safely. I don't care either way," I say honestly .

Ella nods and Veronica says, "That's very new age of you, babes." I toss another pillow at her.

We settle in a comfortable silence, unironically watching Big Daddy with the volume turned low.

"August has been gone for a while," Ella murmurs. She checks her watch. I do the same, noticing he's been gone for more than fifteen minutes.

"Let me go check on him," Ella says, and I stop her with my hand on her arm.

"Nah, let me go. I need to get more water anyway," I say. I stand up, and Kitty rolls over to settle in my vacant spot. He starts snoring again.

Ella shrugs in acceptance.

I wander out of the media room, feeling my way along the dark corridor. It's not far to the kitchen, but I tilt my ear in that direction, hoping to hear August.

I receive silence instead.

Turning down the next hall, I plan to head to the nearest bathroom. Instead, I stop cold in my tracks.

There's a body on the floor. It's one of our guards, and an unimaginable amount of blood pools beneath him. With his face down, I stare at the back of his head where chunks of missing bone and brain matter should be. I clasp my hand over my mouth so I don't retch or scream.

I reach out a trembling hand and pull on him with silent movements. Even though the bullet removed half of his face, I can tell it's Rex, August's guard.

Static fills my ears and my vision clouds around the edges.

You will not pass out. Find August.

I take a step back as silently as I can, keeping my hand over my mouth to contain the loud, sobbing breaths that I can't control.

"This house is too fucking big," I hear. I know that voice, but I'm not able to place it .

"Just kill the bitches, grab the girl and the kid, get the fuck out of here. Simple, Rodrigo."

My memory catapults me to the foyer on my first day here. The guard who attacked August. His name is Rodrigo.

I pick up my speed and try not to vomit the terror swirling in my gut.

Step. Step.

Get the fuck out of here, Winter!

I keep my hand near the wall but don't touch it so I won't make any noise. I pause for a split second when I feel a bump in the paneling.

The tunnels.

I press on the panel and lurch into the dark space, whipping the door shut before babying it to return to a locked position.

I'm safe here in the walls.

But not for long.

Veronica and Ella, I need to get to them. They're too exposed. They're?—

I head down the hall, retracing my path back to the media room. When I feel the crease in the wall, I open the panel.

Veronica shrieks, but I shush her immediately.

"Come, now! " I hiss, trying to keep my voice a whisper. Ella and Kitty don't hesitate, but Veronica does.

"What?"

I run into the room, grabbing Summer. "Let's fucking go! The house is under raid."

"Oh, God!" Veronica chokes out. Within seconds, I lock the five of us in the tunnel.

"Where's August?" Ella whispers.

Tears well in my eyes, and panic surges through me.

"I-I don't know." I bite my lip until I taste blood. "We have to get to safety, Ella," I say haltingly.

She cries, bent over and clutching her stomach, but she struggles to stand upright at my words and nods her head. I start running and they follow.

The baby lets out little grunts of displeasure, and I pray that Hunter's promise about this area being soundproof is true. In a few minutes, I slap my hand onto the palm reader and usher them inside the safe room.

"What the actual goddamn fuck is happening, Winter?" Veronica takes the baby and paces, and I move around to take inventory of our supplies. I didn't do that before, never expecting to need to use the space.

I head to the computer next to the television and boot it up.

I hope this is set up for surveillance and not just for watching episodes of The Big Bang Theory .

Once the computer whirrs to life, I exhale when the black-and-white CCTV populates twelve separate squares.

"I don't know," I say. "I ran across a dead body in the hallway. It was… It was Rex," I say.

"Oh, no," Veronica says, her voice choked.

"I heard two voices, and I recognized one." I turn to Ella. "Rodrigo?"

She's stopped crying but stares at the floor with a vacant, haunted expression.

I scan the screens frantically, trying to maintain my composure at the dead guards on the front porch and the other dead bodies strewn across the foyer and kitchen.

How the fuck didn't we hear anything?

In the bottom right corner, there's movement from the camera looking over the rose garden. A moment later, August's messy mop of hair appears in the frame, held by two hulking guards. They each take one of his arms, and his head flops to the side.

Oh, God.

Two obscured figures come into the other side of the frame, and I squint to make out their features. I stop analyzing them when August stands drunkenly.

I move back to the kitchen area and hand Veronica the can of shelf-stable milk. "There are bottles in here, I checked."

Veronica doesn't say anything. I think she's heading into the same shock that Ella is in.

I turn to her, intending to soothe her, when a quick, urgent pounding rings from the metal door. I push Veronica and Summer toward the back of the safe room and head to the weapons closet on the opposite wall.

Ella whimpers, but she doesn't move.

"Leo," she whispers. Her normally tan skin is pure white with terror.

The banging starts up again, and I rack the chamber, lifting the Glock level with my chest like Hunter taught me.

"Mrs.Brigham? It's Rio. Shit. Please let me in." A speaker embedded in the wall rattles as Rio's voice pierces the thick air of the safe room.

That shakes Ella out of her stupor, and she jumps up and rushes to the door.

"Stop," I hiss at her, pulling her back into my body.

"But it's Rio," she sobs.

"I also just overheard people who used to work here talking about killing us all, so yeah."

"Winter, please," Rio says, his voice more urgent.

I walk toward the door after pushing Ella in the same direction as Veronica and Summer.

"How do I know you aren't here to kill us?" I say into the microphone.

"I'm not. I wouldn't. "

"You have a lot of reasons to hate Hunter. He punched you in front of everyone. That would make anyone salty."

"That was him doing his job. I deserved it because I shouldn't have let you get away so easily. I fucked up that day. But I've sworn to protect you and your family, and I intend to keep that promise."

What do I do, Hunter?

Taking a deep breath, I unlock the door. Stepping back, I point my gun at the opening as Rio stumbles in. He collapses on the floor when he's a few steps inside.

"Oh, my God, you're bleeding! Winter, he's bleeding!" Ella cries as she takes frantic steps toward Rio, who nurses a ragged gunshot near his collarbone. I close the door quickly, locking us all inside.

Veronica rushes over, her medical training taking over. "Take the baby, Ella. Make a bed for her. Winter, where are the medical supplies?"

"In the cabinet over there," I say. She rears back when I point in the direction with the barrel of the gun.

When she walks off, I lean over Rio and slowly press the gun to his head.

"What do you know about what's happening out there?" My voice is deadly calm, steely in contrast to the chaos inside my brain.

August. I need to get to August.

" Fuck , I swear—" he hisses when I press the gun more firmly to his skull.

"Don't fucking lie to me, Rio. Because from where I'm sitting, it's real suspicious that you got off with just a little scrape when it looks like the rest of our security team is dead in my foyer, and August is missing."

Rio's eyes are glassy, and his jaw works as he clenches and unclenches his teeth.

"I don't just work for your husband." He shouts, biting his lip, when I press my shoe to his wound and apply pressure.

The room is silent, and I feel Veronica standing near me. The sting of alcohol wafts from the tools she holds.

"You all are in more danger than you realize. A group called The Legion wants you dead. I was placed here by a counter-group to bring information back and keep you safe. I'm from The Resistance." He yells louder when I press harder on his wound.

The Resistance? The Legion? What the fuck is going on here? I shake my head, hoping to clear the confusion. I don't have time for this.

I add even more pressure to his shoulder.

"So you're a spy? You've been spying on my family."

He groans; it's a guttural and primal sound. I realize that even though he's injured, he could stop this. He could easily overpower me, take my weapon, and kill us all.

Instead, I watch his trembling hands ball into fists at his sides, letting me hurt him.

"I'm here to keep you safe. Those fuckers pulled one over on me." His breaths come in choppy pants, and his skin takes on a gray cast, but his anger is still unmistakable.

"Winter," Veronica whispers. I don't take my eyes off Rio's.

"You can either believe me or not, but if you're going to kill me, just do it now so I can get out of this fucking agony." With that statement, he lets the tension go from his body and looks at me. Resignation rings true in his gaze.

I search his eyes, looking for any hint of desperation, and I scroll through my memories of Rio. I look for signs of deceit in my recollection.

I look at his hands as they shiver, restrained.

Breathing deep through my nose, I step back.

"Help him," I say to Veronica. Rio releases a locked breath, and he passes out.

I take sure steps to the weapons cabinet, stuffing two more full magazines into my bra. I swing on a bulletproof vest. Then I head to the door.

"Lock this behind me," I yell to the room over my shoulder as I take determined steps toward the exit.

" Where the fuck are you going?" Veronica is frantic, pressing onto Rio's wound, and Ella rushes from the back of the room, having found a bassinet in the supplies.

"What? Winter, you can't go out there!" Ella cries. I look over my shoulder and take a grounding breath.

"I'm going to get my son," I say. And with that, I close the door, and the locks shut, sounding like a death knell.