Two pairs of footsteps walked inside, then the door closed with a final snick. Chris and Nathaniel turned.

"Maxwell and Pierce?" A voice said. I looked at the faint reflection of the room in the glass. Robbins looked at Alister with a smile. "That's who you want to introduce me to? I'm a lucky man to have you as a friend, Alister."

You would soon see just how lucky you were, bastard.

"Of course you are," Alister said, waving Alister toward the couch. "Nathaniel Maxwell and Chris Pierce. Nathaniel, Chris, this is Jake Robbins."

Robbins shook the men's hands. I could see him looking my way. But when none of the men volunteered to introduce us, he sat down with them on the couch.

"Alister tells me there's some business I might be interested in," Robbins said.

"Yes," Chris replied, pushing a few notes on his laptop before turning it toward Robbins. "Why don't you take a look. I'm sure you'll find it very intriguing."

Robbins leaned closer to the screen. I couldn't resist. I turned my face so I could clearly see his reaction. He narrowed his eyes on the screen, his smile slowly melting away. Then his eyes widened, he glanced at Chris and picked the laptop up, put it on his lap, and scrolled through it frantically.

"What the hell is this?" he asked, looking at Alister with eyes full of horror and rage.

Nathaniel was looking at Robbins like he wanted to bash his head against the coffee table. Fortunately, he was seated farthest away from Robbins. Alister simply crossed one leg over the other. "I'm sure you're smart enough to know what that is."

"Mr. Robbins," Chris said. "We'd like to come to an agreement."

Robbins dropped the laptop on the desk. "You mean you want to blackmail me."

Chris smiled. It wasn't a nice smile. I had no idea Chris could look that threatening. "Now, don't go putting words into my mouth. We just have a small favor to ask. I'm sure you won't find it particularly difficult."

Robbins' chest was heaving with angry breaths. "What?"

"We'd like an invitation to the House."

Robbins froze. He looked between the three men, his eyes flickering with evident panic. "What do you mean?"

Chris sighed. "Let's not do this, Robbins."

Robbins simply stared at Chris, his lips sewn shut. Chris shook his head. "Danny, the feed please."

Danny's fingers flew over his keyboard. The screen to the left lit up with the image of the compound.

Robbins' face lost all remaining color.

"Now, do we understand each other?" Chris said.

Robbins linked his hands on his lap, his knuckles white. "What's that place?"

I snorted. Robbins' eyes snapped my way. I turned fully to face him. "Really, Robbins?" I said. "You don't recognize the place where you killed Ester? I'm disappointed."

Robbins looked like he saw a ghost. He slowly stood to his feet, wide eyed. "You..." he whispered.

"Yes, me," I said, taking a few steps forward. "Do you remember the place? Or maybe I should tell them about Ester? Or about Lilliana? The girl was still sixteen when you first started visiting her. Is she even still alive?"

His expression slowly morphed from surprise to shock and then fear.

"Should I keep telling them about the other women you tortured, you sick bastard? Or do you remember the House, now?"

The insult snapped something in him. His face screwed into an expression of rage and disgust. "Now, look here, you little-"

"Sit down," Nathaniel said in a low voice, slowly standing to his feet and stepping slightly in front of me. He pointed to the couch. "Sit the hell down. Now."

I couldn't see Nathaniel's, but he must have looked livid, because Robbins immediately took his seat back, looking a little red-faced.

"So?" Alister said. "Do you remember the place? Or should we send some of the files around. I'm sure the Attorney General's office will find them fascinating."

Robbins looked at Alister for several quiet seconds. Alister returned the look with a bored expression. Finally, Robbins rubbed his face and head, messing up the perfectly styled hair. "What do you want?"

"An invitation to the House," Chris said. "I'm sure you can do that, seeing as you've been a long time client of theirs."

Robbins' face tightened. He looked my way. "What the hell did you tell them?"

"You better watch your tongue," Nathaniel rumbled. "Will you accept or not? Your answer. We don't have all night."

Robbins clenched his jaw. "Fine," he bit out. "I'll give you a damn invitation. Why do you want it?"

"That's none of your business," Alister said. "Issue the invitation. And I advise you to leave the country for the next few months until things settle down."

Robbins leaned back, blinking hard. I glared at Alister. Why the heck did he warn him? He basically told him we'd be stirring up trouble with the House.

Robbins' eyes turned calculative. "Deal," he finally said. "Who's the invitation for?"

I breathed out a sigh of relief and went back to my spot near the glass wall. Chris and Robbins finalized the details of the invitation. Robbins took out his wallet and pulled a small card, only half the size of the usual business cards, and gave it to Chris.

"This should get you inside the compound," he said. "I'll have to give them the information of the man you'll be sending, otherwise they won't let him in even with that card."

Chris nodded, looking at the small card. "Alister will send you the man's file." He raised his clear eyes up to meet Robbins. "And Robbins? You know what happens if you try to cross us, right?"

Robbins scowled. He glared at the three men. "I want nothing to do with this mess," he said. "I'll disappear for now. Just keep your end of the deal and keep what you know a secret. If anything leaks, I'll have nothing to lose anymore and I'll make it my life's mission to make you pay. You don't want to make an enemy out of me."

He stood up, buttoned the jacket of his suit. "Is this all, gentlemen?"

Alister rose and waved Robbins to the door. Before he left, Robbins gave me a look that conveyed just how much he liked seeing me. I gave him a sweet smile. I would've loved to at least punch him. My fingers itched with the need to hold my knife. It was too bad, really.

Alister and Robbins left. I sat down next to Nathaniel. "Why did he tell him to leave the country? He basically warned him of our plan."

"Giving Robbins something in exchange for the invitation," Chris said.

"Giving him a warning in exchange for the invitation will make this look like a trade off rather than what it really is, blackmail," Nathaniel said.

"And it'll get Robbins out of the country for now," Chris added. "A man like Robbins will want revenge for being put in this position. With everything going on, we don't need to worry about him, too. With him out of the country right now, we can focus on our plan and not worry about him."

"So he will want revenge?" I asked.

"Probably," Nathaniel said. "But right now, he'll lay low until this mess blows over, and that's all we need."

I didn't like it. I didn't like that Robbins would just get away with everything he'd done. But I had to see the bigger picture.

"Don't worry," Nathaniel whispered to me. "He'll pay. I promise."

Chris gave Nathaniel a pointed look. "Let's just focus on this for now."

Nathaniel raised his hands in mock surrender, but I knew that look on his face. If he said Robbins would pay, then he would pay. I swallowed my smile and held out my hand to Chris. "May I see it?"

He gave me the card. It was a sleek violet color, rigid. A thick black line ran along one side, and on the other was a tiny symbol in the top left corner. A triangle on top of a square; a house. I remembered seeing these back there.

"It's probably a magnetic stripe card," Chris said. "This means there's data stored in that little thing."

Nathaniel held his palm up for the card. I gave it to him. It looked even tinier in his hand. "Can you find out what data is stored in it?"

Chris nodded. "We can. But I don't think there'll be anything of use. Probably just Robbins' information and some access code."

I sighed. Despite my disappointment at not being able to punch Robbins, I felt relieved that we had now achieved the first step of this insane plan.

"Who are we sending into the House?" I asked Chris.

He smiled, pressed a few keys on his laptop and turned the sleek device my way. It was a wikipedia page of a man. I pulled the laptop closer and scrolled through. Rajan Ashwin.

"This is one of my employees," Chris said. "He's going to be posing as an Indian business man who just recently settled in the country and is looking for private entertainment."

I raised my brows. "And you got him his own wikipedia page?"

"That's the easiest part," Chris said. "We made him a website, we made his supposed company a website. We even edited a few pictures in Robbins' social media so that Rajan is in them."

Chris looked excited as he told me about all the ways they'd made sure Rajan Ashwin was a legitimate personality. The click-clacking of Danny's keyboard was a constant noise in the background, the only indication that the young man was still with us.

"She doesn't need to know about all your illegal hobbies," Nathaniel said, cutting Chris off.

Chris scoffed. "That's a form of art, I'll have you know. Danny did an amazing job."

Danny, who'd been quiet the entire time, glanced over his shoulder at Chris with a small grin that lit up his face. "Thanks, boss," he said.

Nathaniel gave Chris the card back. I yawned. I was suddenly so tired. "So when are you sending Rajan in?"

"In a couple of days," Chris said, tucking the violet card in his wallet. "I want you to be with us in the surveillance room, as well. Maybe you can guide him through the House in order to gather as much interesting footage as possible."

I nodded, even as my stomach tightened with the prospect of seeing the House again, even on camera. But it was a necessary evil, and I could very well endure seeing it when there were people actually still living it.

But another part of me was thrilled. We were getting closer to our goal. Hopefully, everything would go according to plan.

Famous last words? I hoped not.