Page 77 of Broken
I’ll stay at Z’s condo.
She plugged the address into the nav app, then made her way to the main road. As she headed east toward Arlington, she opened the sunroof and punched up tunes. She’d find a way to work with Prescott, despite her distrust of him.
Of one thing she was certain, she would be takingtotaladvantage of Mac every chance she got.
Forty minutes later, she pulled up to the condo building, got out, and stopped short at the entrance. Addison had given her the code to Z’s condo, but would it work on the building keypad? She tried it.
As she suspected, Z’s code didn’t give her access to the building. She called Addison’s burner but Addison didn’t answer.
After she waved at the guard, he cracked open the front door. “Can I help you?”
Jacqueline gave him the condo number and told him she’d be staying there.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t let you in without permission from the owner. Can you call him?”
“I will,” she replied.
He returned to the security desk.
She called Addison again. This time, she answered. “Do you know the condo building code? The front desk guard won’t let me in.”
“It’s not the same code as my dad’s condo?”
“No.”
“Can you put the guard on?” Addison asked.
Jacqueline knocked on the glass door, offered a friendly smile, and showed him her phone. The guard returned. She put the call on speaker. “I’ve got the guard here.”
“Hello,” Hawk said. “This is Philip Skye.” He rattled off the condo number. “Please let Jacqueline Hartley into the building. She can stay at my condo for as long as she needs.”
“Thank you, Mr. Skye,” said the guard.
“Thank you,” Jacqueline said and hung up.
The guard keyed in several numbers, then told her to set a passcode. After she did, she thanked him, then fetched her suitcases. Shortly after, she stood inside her temporary living space, staring out the floor-to-ceiling windows across the Potomac River into DC.
While she loved her new place, she wasn’t feeling so good about how easy it was to fool the security guard. If Nicholas Hawk could imitate Philip Skye and get her access into the building, how safe was she, really?
11
HEARTBREAK
Prescott
Prescott made mac and cheese, then cut up carrots and celery.
“Hey, bud, I made us lunch.”
Ethan scrambled off the family room floor, where he’d been playing, and made his way into the kitchen.
Prescott braced for an argument, but a quiet Ethan climbed into the booster seat. “Yummy. Mac and cheese.”
Prescott smiled. “I’ll consider this a win. You like carrots?”
“I can’t know.”
Prescott pulled up a chair beside him, then held out a cut-up carrot stick. Using his bicuspids, he bit into it. “Mmm, carrots are good.”
