Page 74 of Two Kinds of Stranger

‘Say I do believe you. What exactly do you want from me? I’m hardly in a position to back you up if you decide to corner Flynn in a dark alleyway. Besides, I have a friend who is going to help me.’

‘Bruno Mont?’ asked Logan.

‘Youhavedone your homework. Bruno is going to seek justice for me, in his own particularly brutal fashion.’

‘What might that entail?’

‘Something violent, if I know Bruno. He has a talent for it.’

‘And you don’t?’

Arthur’s thin lips pressed together then spread into a smile. It was an unnerving sight.

‘I don’t have Bruno’s taste for it. He will choose his moment and hurt the ones who hurt me.’

‘But that’s not enough, is it, Arthur? You’ve been looking for revenge since the day Kevin got that will overturned in court.’

‘Kevin took everything from me. I want to take everything from him. Slowly, methodically. This. . .’ he said, holding up his ruined arm. ‘The ones who hurt me will feel the same pain, but it’s nothing compared to what I want to do to Kevin and his family.’

‘It’s not so easy, though. You have your friend, Bruno, but my guess is if you had a plan to hurt Kevin and his family you would have done it sooner. If you could do this on your own, then you wouldn’t have invited me inside. Brute force can only get you so far. Flynn has a weakness–his family. I want to hurt him in the worst way possible. That means targeting his ex-wife and child.’

Cross’s dark eyes flared, and for a moment Logan thought he could see a scarlet spark dancing in those black pools. A trick of the light, somehow. Logan noted that the reaction came at the mention of Flynn’s daughter. This wasn’t just about revenge for Cross. Logan had stumbled upon something important to Arthur.

Logan sensed that Cross wanted the girl.

He did not want to know why. He could guess, but such thoughts were pointless.

As much as Logan understood Flynn’s weakness, he had also just discovered a weakness in Arthur Cross.

‘What if I brought you Amy Flynn? You could take her some place where she could never be found. If Flynn’s daughter wentmissing, the pain and the fear would tear him and his ex-wife to pieces. Kevin too.’

Cross’s gray tongue wet his lips and he allowed his eyelids to close and open again.

‘You could do that?’

‘My only issue is getting inside the house. That’s why I need you, Arthur. You are a resourceful individual and every bit as watchful. You’ve been watching the den of our lion for a long time. I need to know where the cub sleeps and if there is anything in that particular den that might cause problems for a hyena creeping in at night.’

‘They have a gun.’

‘Where do they keep the gun?’

‘Downstairs, on a high shelf in the kitchen. It’s in a lockbox with a keypad.’

‘How do you know this?’

‘I saw the wife grab it when that delivery driver appeared. I have been watching for a long time now.’

‘What kind of home security do they have?’

‘There’s a full security system.’

‘Do you know the brand?’

Cross smiled coldly, said, ‘Nici. It’s on a decal sticker in the corner of the front window and the alarm box below the eaves of the house.’

Security companies are in the business of selling home-security systems. They tell consumers that showing potential robbers that this home is protected can be a powerful deterrent. This is at least partly true. The companies brand their alarm housing, which is bolted high up on the front of the house, and they always include decal stickers with their products for display in their customer’s windows. Logan had advised several security companies and even introduced branded decals to some of them.

This home is protected by Simply Safe.