Page 119 of The Complete Truth Duet
I narrowed my eyes on him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
He shook his head. “It doesn’t fucking matter. You’re going to do this shit whether I go with you or not, aren’t you?”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “Yep.”
Through clenched teeth, he gritted out, “Then I guess we’re going to see the infamous Catalina Lyons today.”
A victorious grin split my mouth.
He must have caught it out of the corner of his eye, because without looking at me, he bit out, “Wipe that smile off your face. I’m not happy about this.” But he said it as he turned down a side street that was not on our way home. And as he started our hour-long detour through random neighborhoods, his gaze constantly flicking to the rearview mirror, he muttered, “Christ. Another fucking Nancy Drew. And he says he doesn’t have a type.”
Penn
Drew: Please tell me you have eyes on Thomas.
Me: On him now. Why?
I was sitting up the street from Thomas’s house. It had become my nightly routine. With the parade of women, maids, colleagues, and a few randoms I’d yet to identify in and out of his house all week, it was proving more difficult than I’d ever thought to get the piece of shit alone. But tonight was the night.
He was with the brunette from the courthouse again. It marked the third time this week. And if it went anything like those nights, she’d tiptoe out around two in the morning, twisting only the lock on the knob before hurrying to her car. That gave me a full five hours before his maid showed up.
Pad that window with time to get in and out and I had four glorious hours to watch him die.
It was almost eleven. I pulled the security app up on my phone. And according to the camera above my front door, which I’d yet to mention to Savannah, she either was already in bed or had turned into Spider-Man, scaled down six floors, and gone out for the night. I was betting on the former. She’d been doing really well. I hadn’t been able to get her into a real rehab facility yet, but I’d hired a private doctor who specialized in addiction who came by every couple of days, and I’d even gone to a few NA meetings with her too.
If I didn’t make it back, I was really going to miss that kid. But she knew how to find Drew if anything ever happened to me. And since my will left everything to Cora Guerrero, I had peace of mind that they’d always be taken care of.
I stared at Drew’s text as if I could read between the lines and find an explanation.
Me: You going to elaborate?
Ten minutes later, my chest was starting to get tight. He’d texted me earlier that day that they were going to pick up River. I’d hoped that meant Thomas was backing off Cora. But now…something didn’t feel right.
Me: Hello! Is everything okay?
When another ten minutes passed without a response, my anxiety climbing with every tick of the second hand, I gave up on the waiting game and called.
It went to voicemail after the second ring.
Motion at Thomas’s front door caught my attention. He was walking out with his hand on the brunette’s lower back. He paused to lock up and then escorted her down the short walk to her silver Lexus.
The phone vibrated in my hand.
Drew: With Cora. Can’t talk. Just stay on him until I can fill you in.
He was with her. I blew out a relieved breath. That was good. Really good, and my pulse responded immediately.
Brake lights backing out of Thomas’s driveway drew my gaze up.
“Where do you think you’re going?” I whispered as Thomas’s Cadillac followed her Lexus out onto the main road.
I put my car in drive and eased out in the opposite direction. I’d hit the neighborhood loop and meet him at the entrance. But my suspicions grew as she turned left and he cut right. Okay, so they weren’t going somewhere together. Not a huge deal, except Thomas wasn’t known to be a night owl.
I followed him a few car lengths back as he drove across town. With the city lights twinkling behind us, he led me into the burbs. It was a nice-ish area. The houses were spread out and off the main road. The lack of traffic made it difficult to stay close. In his richy-rich neighborhood, my Audi blended right in. But there, I might as well have had a neon sign on my hood.
As he rolled to a stop, I quickly zipped into a nearby driveway and cut my lights, praying that the family who lived inside was fast asleep and not peering out the window. I sank low in my seat when a beat-up ’90s-model sedan pulled up behind him. Two men climbed out and Thomas joined them, but he didn’t greet them before taking off with long and heavy strides down the dark road, the newest additions to our party falling into step behind him.
