She had to know for certain whether she was right or not. And there was only one way to do that.
“I need to verify something. For my peace of mind. Just because the source didn’t come forward today doesn’t mean she wasn’t there.”
“She?” Amber said, raising her eyebrows. “Fine. What do you want me to do?”
“Send one last message, using another microdot—and use cherry blossoms around the circumference instead of ivy.”
“Okay,” Amber said slowly, glancing from her to Marcus. “And the message to go with it?”
“Say ‘you’re safe; it’s okay to come in now.’ And then…” She let out a breath, bracing for the reaction she was about to get. “Give the coordinates to somewhere in Stow. Somewhere public, along with tomorrow’s date and a morning meeting time.”
“Why? And that’s way too damn close to us,” Marcus said.
“No, that’s why it’s perfect. I want to try again.”
Marcus and Amber both frowned. “Kiyomi, what the hell’s going on? What aren’t you telling us?” Marcus asked.
“I thought it might be Julia.” She shook her head, realizing it sounded stupid and desperate even as they both stared at her in shock. “But it doesn’t matter. This is our last hope of finding out who’s behind this.”
One way or another, by noon tomorrow, it would be over and she would have her answer.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Back in her London flat with Mr. Whiskers curled up and purring like an engine on her lap, Ivy toyed with the beaded bracelet around her wrist and she stared at the message on screen she had just received from Amber.
You’re safe. It’s okay to come in now.
It’s a trap, her brain said immediately.
Afraid to believe the message was real, let alone true, she searched for some other clue embedded in the unscrambled message and honed in on the final period. She isolated it and began enlarging it, her pulse picking up when it revealed an image.
The Valkyrie symbol, with a wreath of cherry blossoms encircling it, and the letters J U L I A embedded in them.
Kiyomi. Only Kiyomi could know to use the cherry blossom symbol with her.
Seeing her old friend this morning in Bourton had been like a knife in the heart. Walking away when Kiyomi had been that close had been one of the hardest things Ivy had ever had to do. She hadn’t been certain, but it seemed her old friend had recognized her somehow.
It could be a trap.
Yes. The risk was real.
The meeting date beneath the symbol was for tomorrow. Kiyomi suspected it was her, and wanted to see her again tomorrow. To embrace her? Or kill her?
A sheen of tears blurred her eyes for a moment before she blinked them away and entered the coordinate numbers into a GPS program. A map popped up, showing the Cotswold village of Stow-on-the-Wold. Then the program began shrinking the area. Smaller and smaller, isolating an exact location.
The satellite image paused on the middle of town. Along with an address. When she entered that, she got a name.
Huffkins.
She looked it up, then sat back, staring at the image of the cute little stone façade of the tearoom, trying to make sense of it. It was located smack in the heart of the village, a public place that would be crawling with tourists by the time the meeting took place. Making it unlikely that Kiyomi or anyone with her would try to kill her in plain view of any bystanders.
Mr. Whiskers yowled and she jerked her hands off him, realizing she’d unconsciously been squeezing him half to death. He leaped off her lap, landed lightly on the rug and paused to give her an indignant look before retreating to the safety of another room while she focused on the screen again.
You’re safe. It’s okay to come in now.
She had never wanted to believe anything so badly in her life. But the fear was real, raw and icy. If she was wrong about Kiyomi’s intentions, she could be killed tomorrow.
It went around and around in her mind all day, torturing her. After forcing herself to eat something for dinner that night, she lay awake in bed once the darkness finally came, staring at the dim lights coming in her bedroom window.
She had lived so long in suspicion and fear, motivated by hatred and revenge. Yet at every turn since this had begun, Kiyomi and the others had proven themselves to her without realizing it.
She was still afraid to trust them. Afraid this would turn out to be just another manipulative lie. Another disaster she would pay for, this time with her life. Could Kiyomi and the others really be waiting to embrace her after everything that had happened?
It was too tantalizing to ignore. Going to the meeting tomorrow was a huge risk. Kiyomi would be ready for anything, and she likely had at least some of the others there as backup.
Don’t go. It’s a trap, that bitter, fearful voice in her mind whispered.
“But it could also be my salvation,” she told it, her voice strong in the silence.
Her chance to be free. To have a life of her own. To form friendships and maybe even find people who might care about her.
Her heart pounded. She had to do this. Had to know for sure, and she was so damn tired of her lonely, superficial existence. She wanted her freedom, and a future. A life of her own, as the others had won for themselves.
Also, they hadn’t turned around and hunted her down after Kiyomi had spotted her this morning. That was a big indicator that she was probably safe to go see them.
Her mind was made up. She was going.
****
At nine-fifty the next morning Ivy parked her rental car along Old Forge Lane and cautiously walked toward Stow-on-the-Wold’s famous market square. It was already busy, the car park full, people wandering around taking photos and popping in and out of the shops ringing the square. A tour bus was offloading passengers at the visitor’s center in the middle of it.
Ivy joined the crowd milling around the bus and used it as cover to take a good look around. She had come without a disguise today and put on a black and white sundress. Kiyomi should be able to pick her out again if Ivy didn’t spot her first, even though her new face looked nothing like Julia’s.
No telltale tingle at the back of her neck. Just a bubbling anticipation in the pit of her stomach, and a painful bubble of hope in her chest.
Huffkins was a short walk away, across from her and to the right. She headed for it, hyper aware of everything that was happening around her, watching the people and faces she saw.
There was a line outside the door at Huffkins. She paused a few dozen yards away and looked around. Beside her, the bus drove past. She glanced back to where she’d been and did a double take as her eyes stopped on the lone figure standing away from the knot of tourists in the shadow of the visitor’s center.
Female. Slender. Right height. Left arm in a sling.
The woman stepped forward, emerging into the sunlight, her gaze locked with Ivy’s.
Ivy caught her breath, her pulse accelerating. Kiyomi.
She couldn’t move. Could barely breathe as Kiyomi came toward her with a slow, cautious gait, her beautiful, familiar face a blank mask, giving nothing away. There had to be other Valkyries here too, but Ivy didn’t care, couldn’t tear her eyes away from her old friend.
Kiyomi stopped about thirty feet away, assessing her with that dark, fathomless gaze. “Are you alone?”