Chapter Eighty-Five
The briefing in the chapel lasted over two hours.
I stayed in the room, sitting on the edge of the mattress, listening to the muffled thud of heavy boots on the stairs and the sharp, distant slamming of doors down the hall. Every time a floorboard creaked outside, my heart leaped into my throat, expecting the latch to turn.
It never did.
Eventually, the noise downstairs quieted down. The main room of the clubhouse settled into a low, steady hum of voices, but the space outside our door remained completely silent.
I couldn't just sit there in the dark. I stood up, smoothing down my dark jeans, and looked at the white envelope resting on the nightstand. The folded paper seemed to gleam under the pale winter light coming through the window. I left it there. If Jake wa
