She’d lied, told him that the old fart was alive and well when she walked out.
Then, they had to lie low for a while because the entire country was on pause, but that gave her and Garrett time to really get to know each other. To justbetogether. And it was paradise. They headed to Vegas as soon as Garrett was able to land a job there. It had become their habit—first Garrett got into a position, then she applied for work. They were always hiring young, attractive women, so it was easier for her to find something after he got inside.
Vegas had been amazing in so many ways. They needed to go back and renew their vows, make a fresh start. Garrett might have to change his name this time—she’d changed hers so many times she sometimes forgot that she was born Clara Dolan. She’d legally changed her name to Audrey Reid after they got married, but she had never used that name at any of her jobs.
Though next time, they would. When they got to Vegas, they would go into it as a couple. No more of this sneaking around, no more watching Garrett flirt with other women because that was his game. She didn’t like it. She didn’t know what Garrett saw in the old women he seduced. She knew what she saw in the men—victory, money, pride that she hadn’t lost her touch.
So, while staying here in Florida was partlyherfault because she had spotted the Avilas and knew they needed to be put to the test, it was alsohisfault because Garrett saw Kara Costa—KaraQuinn, Audrey reminded herself—and looked at her a moment too long.
Audrey hated her. Hated her with a passion. Because there had been something in Garrett’s eyes, a lust she hadn’t seen with any of the other women they conned... or killed. Theolder women were a game—Garrett enjoyed playing with them, sleeping with them, stealing from them. They weren’t a threat to Audrey.
But Kara Quinn was pretty, she was confident, she was successful...
No, she’snotsuccessful. That was all fake.
That it was fake, that they had tricked her and Garrett (but mostly Garrett) grated on her.
She rolled over, pulled her laptop off the nightstand, and booted it up. They were in a Jacksonville hotel. The police were watching outside, but they didn’t know her from Adam, and of course she and Garrett hadn’t walked in together. That would have been a big red flag.
She glanced over at Garrett, considered waking him up so he could watch with her, but decided against it. He was right about one thing, and she hated being reminded of that.
Matt and Kara were FBI agents. They weren’t like the others. They might—and that was a bigmight—find a way out. It was doubtful; they had spent a month setting up the factory again after the Avilas had died. But... it was a teeny, tiny concern.
First, she checked on Lily Graves and her brat. They were sleeping in the basement. It was really weird that the mom brought a mattress down to sleep next to her son. Audrey didn’t really know what to do with them. Of course Franklin would have to die—he hadhumiliatedher—but she made sure the woman hadn’t seen her. Yet... she wasn’t certain about the kid. He may have spotted her before she put on her wig and glasses.
She didn’t want to kill him, but...
Maybe he wouldn’t remember. When this was over, she could make an anonymous call and tell someone where they were.
They had enough food for a couple weeks if they didn’t eat too much, it wasn’t like they would starve or anything.
If the house lasted that long.
Everyone who died was guilty ofsomething, Audrey reasoned. Most of them were cheaters. The women Garrett seduced—they were just stupid, and they hadn’t killed any of them. Most didn’t even know they had been conned. See?Stupid.The men Audrey conned were thrilled to have sex with a beautiful young woman. Of course, after she married Garrett, she never slept with any of them. Her body belonged to her husband now. She teased, seduced, maybe gave them a little taste, until the drugs took over and she and Garrett could stage the scene.
They always paid. Because they were horny bastards who thought with their dicks.
Audrey logged in to the factory site. She watched the recording of Kara nearly being sliced in two in the elevator. She thought for certain she would bite it then, but even though she got out, it was fun to watch. Then the recording of Kara peeing in the bathroom. Audrey laughed. Garrett stirred next to her, but didn’t wake up. Audrey stifled another giggle as she watched the recording of the two of them trapped in the control room. That was how they were going to die. They walk on one of the three catwalks and fall to their death. Or better, like Mitch Avila, fall on their back, hit their head, and drown. She could still hear Sheila crying, alone in the control room. They left her there for another day because they both had to work. By the time they got to her, she was hysterical. She begged them to save her husband, thinking they were there to save them... then she ran over to the edge and pointed. Audrey couldn’t stand her theatrics, one light push and plop.
Sheila joined her husband on the floor below. It was easier getting a dead body out from the ground floor, anyway.
Audrey switched to the live feed. The external cameras showed all was quiet—no vehicles, no sign of trespassers. She didn’t expect there would be—the bridge was out and there was only one way to get to the abandoned factory. Then she checkedon the control room... nothing. No feed. She checked the settings and all the other cameras were working, but the control room was out.
Frowning, she rewound the recording and saw the moment that Matt had found the cameras. And when he destroyed them.
Thatprick!
She loaded the recording from the camera on the factory floor that Garrett had mounted on one of the conveyor belts so it was halfway up, angled at the control room. It was wide-angle so it saw a lot, but the quality was distorted. From that camera she watched on high speed as Matt and Kara stood at the broken window and talked, inspected the catwalks, and then they disappeared from view. They didn’t come back and then the recording stopped and showed real time.
It was 12:45 a.m.
Audrey quickly checked the camera outside the metal doors; the doors were still shut, and there was no sign that they had gotten out that way. Good. They were still trapped in the control room.
They would die on the catwalks in the morning, probably just waiting for sunrise before they started. They would be weak, careless.
And if they survived the fall?
They still wouldn’t get out of the building alive.
