Total pages in book: 144
Estimated words: 137654 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 688(@200wpm)___ 551(@250wpm)___ 459(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 137654 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 688(@200wpm)___ 551(@250wpm)___ 459(@300wpm)
Deke gets in and looks at me.
“What’s the plan, Austin?” I ask.
She says nothing.
“I’m not gonna ask you again,” I growl.
Her head snaps over to look at me. Her green eyes burn with rage, and I smile at her. She’s so gorgeous. “Bennett said he likes to take late-night swims, so I suggested we drown him in his own pool,” she huffs.
I nod and turn back to face the front. “Head to his house.”
Deke starts the car and “With Me Now” by Blacklite District blares through the speakers.
I smile. Good plan, sweetheart.
_________________________________
We pull up to the house a block away. I remove my seat belt and turn to face her. “You’re staying in the car.”
“Cole …”
“This is not up for discussion, Austin!” I pick up my bag at my feet and unzip it. I pull out my gun and place it in the back of my waistband of my jeans. Just in case. Then I place my rope and set of handcuffs on the center console.
“What do you need those for?” she growls. “You have to make this look like a freak accident. If he has marks around his wrists and ankles, then they will know he was murdered.”
“Those are for you,” Deke tells her as he eyes her in the rearview mirror.
“What?” she snaps. She’s no longer scared of him, and that has me worried. A part of me knows that if he puts her in a situation that she needs to get out of, she would do anything to get free. That’s why I’m glad Deke is stronger than she is.
He nods. “You try to leave, and I have permission to do whatever is necessary to keep you in the car.” He gives her a big threatening smile.
She looks at me, her eyes narrowed. “He’s bullshitting me, right?”
I shake my head. “No.”
Her jaw tightens, and she looks over at the door. She lunges for it. “Fuck this …”
Deke reaches out and grabs her hair, yanking her back into the seat while he leans over into the back. She doesn’t cry out. Instead, she lets out a growl of frustration.
“Your ass is staying in this car,” I snap, grabbing my hoodie out of my bag. “And that is all there is to it.” I get out, slamming the door shut.
I pull on my hoodie and zip it up, before putting the hood over my head.
“Where’s Austin?” Kellan asks as we meet up.
“Not coming,” I state without looking over at him.
He snorts. “Knew she’d back out.”
I say nothing. Kellan underestimates her way too much. And that is what will get him in trouble with her.
We come up to Jerrold’s back gate. “What are we gonna do?” Shane asks.
“I’m gonna kill the bastard,” I state.
“We could just shoot him,” Kellan offers.
“No!” I snap. Austin was right. This can’t look like a murder. His wife is dead, and his brother is missing. If he is murdered, then this will look too suspicious. I turn to Bennett. “Are the cameras still in the house?”
He nods. “I never removed them.”
“Where is his laptop?” I ask.
“At my house. Want me to go get it and plant it here?”
I shake my head. It will have Austin’s fingerprints on it. And cameras from his work may place her there. Even if she wasn’t the one who actually took it from his office. Too risky. “No. We stick with the plan. I’ll drown him in his pool.”
“What if he’s not in it?” Kellan offers.
“He’s there,” Bennett says. “Or I wouldn’t have mentioned it as an option.”
“How do we plan on getting in?” Shane asks.
I used to spend a lot of time at this house. Eli and Aimee’s parents died when he was young, so when Aimee got married, he moved in with them. “There’s a side gate that Eli used to sneak out of to do his dares. It’s on the north side,” I say and start walking in that direction. They follow me.
I check my phone to see if I’ve got anything from Deke, and there’s nothing. It worries me. I know he would never hurt her on purpose, but I told him to do whatever it takes to keep her in the car. And I’m not sure how much fight she has in her. At what point will she back down from him? At what point will he stop hurting her and just let her go? Guess I’ll find out when I get back.
“Something wrong?” Kellan asks.
I don’t answer him and put my phone away. Not like he cares anyway.
We get through the gate and into the backyard. We round the pool house and come to a stop when we see the bastard in his pool just like Bennett had predicted. Doing laps.
“How we doing this exactly?” Shane asks.
“I’m doing it.” I turn to face them. “Alone.”