She could have called 911. From the far corner of the front porch, she had cell service. But the woman claimed to have cloned her phone and would see any call she made, any message she sent. She believed her when she said she would kill Nathan before help arrived.
Lily found the canisters of gas in the basement. There was a digital panel and phone attached to them. The panel was lit with numbers that meant nothing to her. If the gas was released, Lily would be here with her son. He wouldn’t die alone.
“Did Dad call?”
“No. He’s okay, though. The woman sent me a photo.”
Lily had looked everywhere for tools to cut through the bars; there was nothing. The farmhouse appeared to have been abandoned, though there was electricity to the property. There was some furniture, but most of the house was empty. The basement had been flooded at one point, but most of the water had been pumped out, only a few puddles remained in the low spots. Still, there was an overriding stench of mildew and rot, like something had died down here. A rat or an opossum or... she tried not to think about it.
They didn’t talk for several minutes while they ate their soup. When they were done, she collected the bowls, but she didn’t want to leave him yet. “Ready for a game?”
The first day they were here, she’d found an old deck of cards that was missing the ace of spades and four of diamonds. She’d also found several boxes of books in a closet. They’d been working through them. She’d read eight Harlequin romances—all published more than thirty years ago—and Nathan was readingAll Creatures Great and Smallby James Herriot. Lily had read that book when she was a child.
“Mom, I’ve been thinking. Maybe if we turn off the power, that’ll kill the cameras. And you can go out a window, not the front stairs.”
“I’m not risking it. I’m not risking you.” She looked over at the cabinet where the canister and phone taunted her. “Let’s play a game, okay?”
“Sure, Mom.”
They played rummy in silence for several minutes, then she said, “If I can get you out of this basement, we’ll go. But I’m not leaving you down here alone.” She reached out and took his hand. “I’m not leaving you,” she repeated.
“I love you, Mom.”
16
Seven and a Half Years Ago
When Garrett Reid walked into the Odyssey Restaurant in the hills above the San Fernando Valley, he didn’t know his life would forever change.
Love did that to a guy.
He’d gone to the Odyssey to seduce an older woman to carry him through the next few months. It wasn’t that he didn’t have any money—he had plenty, thanks to his smart management of resources during his time at college. But he was bored, and he didn’t like being bored.
Older women were so much more interesting than girls his own age. First, they could have adult conversations about virtually any subject. Second, they appreciated sex. College girls had hang-ups and most fumbled along or faked it. Older women knew exactly what to do to turn him on... and themselves. They actuallyenjoyedsex. Theywantedto be seduced, and Garrett was very good at the game.
Blanche Richardson had taught him more about how to please a woman than the dozen girls he’d slept with in college. He didn’t count his first time—he and Becca had both been virgins, they were both fumbling around and that was... different. Special and, well, he didn’t want to think about her.
Blanche was smart and while she may have been fifty-one, she was attractive and classy and in amazing shape. The three months he lived with her had been incredible.
College girls didn’t want to have sex every night. Blanche expected it. And she expected to be fully satisfied, which made him eager to do everything he could to please her.
The happier Blanche was, the more she gave him—in and out of bed.
Then her son found out and nearly killed Garrett, so he was outta there.
The second woman he spent only a week with—and he learned a lot of lessons. At first, he thought he’d have a few months of living the high life in Beverly Hills, but Sheila was crazy. She told him the first night that he’d given her the best orgasm of her life, the next she said she’d cut off his dick while he slept because all men were pigs.
Yeah, he got out of there fast. Just because a woman was attractive, rich, and had the right zip code didn’t mean she was sane.
But now he had a targetanda plan: Vicki Montero was forty-nine, recently divorced, no kids, and had already dated a guy not much older than Garrett. She was loaded, and Garrett figured if he played his cards right, he’d have a place to live for at least six months while he worked out a longer-term plan.
Hell, maybe he’d marry her if the sex was good and she wasn’t crazy.
Vicki was sitting at a table in the bar drinking a martini. Garrett already had his in—research was his best friend.
But then he saw Audrey.
He didn’t know her name at the time; he only saw a beautiful woman. Thesingularlymost beautiful woman he’d ever laid eyes on. She was blonde—his personal preference—but that wasn’t the reason he noticed her. It wasn’t even her beauty that drew him in.
