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“You found a phone hidden behind a bust?” he says.

I shake my head. “No. Not hidden there. That’s where I hid it.”

“And you didn’t tell me.”

“Well…no. It happened the other morning. Before you approached me about the gala. It was left on my bed in an envelope. I didn’t know what it was. Not at first.”

“You didn’t know it was a phone?”

“I didn’t know what it meant. What was on it, I mean.”

A muscle jumps beneath the dirt on his cheek. “What was on it?”

“A message.”

“What message?”

I close my eyes for half a second, but I can still see the words.

Delaney Cross didn’t listen. Finish it tonight.

I open my eyes. “It was about Delaney.”

“What about Delaney?” he grits out.

“Someone is after her,” I say. “At least, someone was. The message said she hadn’t backed down and she needed to be taken care of.”

“Is that exactly what it said?” he demands.

“No. The exact words were Delaney Cross didn’t listen. Finish it tonight.”

“Jesus Christ.” He drags his hand through his hair. “And this was left in your room?”

“Yeah.” I swallow. “Along with instructions to go to the lower corridor and send the message to the number that was typed in. There was five hundred dollars in the envelope, and whoever left it said I’d get five hundred more after I did it. So I did, but more money didn’t come. So I think it was left in the wrong room. Someone else was supposed to get the phone and the instructions. And the money. But I took the money, Nathaniel. I gave it to my mom as a down payment for her new cancer treatment. And I’m not sorry I took it. I’m not!”

“You kept it.”

“Yes. And I’m not sorry.”

He grabs me then. Hugs me. Kisses my neck. “You don’t have to be sorry. I promise you that I’ll see that your mother gets the care and treatment she needs.”

I shake my head. “I can’t ask that of you.”

“You’re not asking.” He grabs my hands, squeezes his thumbs into my palms. “I’ll do everything in my power to help her, Ella. I promise you.”

I go limp in his arms, holding back tears. I want to cry. To let out all the worry and exhaustion and fear I’ve been holding in for so long.

But my life may be in danger. Now is not the time to let it all out.

“I swear to God,” he says. “Whatever happens to me, your mother will get the help she needs.” Then he pulls back. “Take me to that phone.”

Together, we walk the long way to the old guest room wing, stepping as quietly as we can.

When we get to the bust of Arthur Vexley, I retrieve the phone with shaking hands.

Nathaniel takes it from me.

He moves his fingers over the screen, reading the messages until he gets to the last one.