“Ten million if they get both of you and stream it live. No editing. No delay. Just full-on torture porn for the highest bidder.”
Brooke Sinclair and Seth Kincaid.
Dead or dying on camera.
Seth lets out a slow breath through his nose.
“She’s getting impatient.”
“She’s getting desperate,” Beau says. “The more we kill, the more expensive it gets. She is hemorrhaging money trying to make an example.”
“The problem is that they aren’t coming for revenge.” My eyes stay on the screen. “These new ones don't give a fuck about what happened at the manor. They are here for the payout.”
I stare at the screen and the numbers blinking beside each name.
“None of these people care about us,” I scoff. “They don’t know us. We’re just names with dollar signs.”
“Yeah,” Travis says. “That's the point.”
“They aren't the real threat,” I say. “They are tools. Hired hands. They aren't the ones writing checks.”
Silence stretches across the room.
Then Seth speaks.
“You're talking about Kristie.”
I nod.
“She is the one who wants us dead. If we take her out then the rest of the board loses the person pulling the strings.”
Seth’s jaw tightens.
“She is a high-profile mayor in California. We aren't talking about picking off some nobody in a back alley.”
“I know. That is why we don’t make a scene.”
Seth nods once.
“Go on.”
“She's a public figure,” I say. “People watch her every move. If she dies suddenly everyone looks closer.”
“So what is the alternative?” Seth asks.
“She doesn’t die publicly…She just disappears.”
Seth leans back slightly and studies me.
“There is no crime scene,” I continue. “There is no body to find and no evidence pointing anywhere. One day she is campaigning and smiling for cameras. The next day she's gone.”
Beau folds his arms.
“That kind of disappearance makes headlines.”
“For a while,” I say. “There will be search parties and press conferences. Then the story fades and she becomes a missing person with no answers and no closure.”
Seth keeps his eyes on mine.
