“Not really.” I closed my eyes. “The sky is closing in on me and I don’t even know which side is up anymore.”
“You’re okay, Chicken Little.” He rubbed my knee.
“How can you be so calm?” I glanced at him. “We basically just got confirmation that there was something going on with my mom and your dad.”
“We confirmed nothing.” He shook his head and paused. “Look at me, Bianca. All we’ve confirmed is that this whole thing is a lot more complicated than we both originally thought.”
“What are we going to do?” I suddenly felt really glad to be with Jakob.
Then I heard the beep beep of my phone receiving a text. “I have a message.” I pulled my phone out and frowned at the screen. “Actually, it’s a voice mail.” I frowned. “My phone didn’t even ring, though.”
“Listen to it.” He nodded at the phone.
“Okay.” I listened to the message and frowned. “Listen.”
I put the phone on speaker and pressed REPEAT. “Bianca, it’s Larry. I’m so sorry for everything. So, so sorry. Listen to me carefully. Look at the letters and the clues. The clues have the answers. Death wasn’t the end, but the beginning.” Then, after a scuffling noise, the message went dead.
“What was that?” Jakob frowned and rubbed his temple.
“I have no idea.” I shook my head. “I hope he’s okay,” I said softly. “Even if he was a dirtbag.”
“Hold on a second.” Jakob grabbed my hands. “Remember the note you received on the island?” He frowned. “Didn’t it say something about death?”
“Oh my God, it did!” I nodded, trying to think. “Hold on, let me think.” I closed my eyes tightly and tried to remember what it said. “It said, ‘Your life may be saved in death,’ ” I said after about a minute. “ ‘Your life may be saved in death.’ ”
“Doesn’t that strike you as peculiar?” Jakob asked thoughtfully. “That the letter and Larry gave you such similar messages?”
“Definitely too similar to be coincidental.” I nodded, my brain hurting. “I don’t understand what it means.”
“Let’s think about it.” Jakob stared at me for a second. “I think we’ve been looking at the clues incorrectly.”
“What do you mean?”
“No.” He shook his head. “I think we’ve been reading the notes as personal clues, as if the meanings were intended for us—but what if the clues are more general? What if the clues have nothing to do with us? What if the clues are pointing to someone else altogether?”
“Someone else?”
“Someone else, something else.” He shrugged. “Just not us.”
“I never thought of that.” I bit my lower lip and tried to remember the other clues and notes. “Get me a pen and paper, please. I want to try and write down all the clues I remember.”
“Okay.” He jumped up and ran into another room and then returned with a pen, notepad, and small box.
I frowned as I looked at the small box. “What’s that?”
“Remember I told you that you didn’t know everything?” He sat next to me. “I was getting notes as well.”
“What?” My eyes widened. “What?”
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.” He sighed. “I didn’t want to mention it before because I didn’t want to overwhelm you, and I wasn’t really sure if there was any connection before.”
“I see.” I looked away, feeling hurt, but not wanting to argue, not now. Not when we needed to put our minds together and try to work this all out. I grabbed the pen from his hand and scribbled down all the clues I could remember.
The first note I could remember was the one that had arrived before I’d been kidnapped and before the fake policeman had showed up at my apartment. Someone had sent a man to my house, disguised as a policeman, to warn me to be more careful. At the time I thought nothing of it, but I now believed the policeman was connected to Steve and Larry in some way and whoever was controlling them. I scribbled on the notepad before jotting down the message as I remembered it. Beauty and Charm. One survives. One is destroyed. What are your odds?
The second note I could remember had been on the beach next to us when we’d awakened, tied together. Without the truth, there is no answer. In pain, there is darkness. In light, there is nothing. Your bodies are now one, but not as united as they will be by the time I’m done. I was pretty sure I’d remembered that word for word. The notes were almost etched in my brain—I’d thought of nothing else for so many days.
“How’s it going?” Jakob gazed down at me and I just nodded. I was still hurt and didn’t want to look at him or say anything right now.
What were the next notes we’d received? It was when we were in the creepy hut. Mine read, Your life may be saved in death, and Jakob’s note said, Everyone has a price. Every action has a consequence. Then Steve had given me a note—at the time I’d thought he’d been trying to warn me away from Jakob, but was he up to something more sinister? That note had read, Be careful of who you trust and fall in love with. They are deceiving you. You should run away as soon as you can. I frowned as I scribbled that note down. It didn’t seem to fit with the other notes.