Page 88 of Secret Seduction

“Come out, come out, wherever you are,” I call out.

The house is quiet, and she and whoever’s with her could be anywhere, but I have all the time in the world to find them.

I search each room, expecting her to pop out and shoot me, but after I get through the entire house and she’s nowhere to be found, I start questioning if she isn’t fucking with me again.

And then I hear someone.

I stop and listen.

Rustling.

I take a step forward and then pause when the scent of something burning hits my nostrils.

I try to place it. It smells familiar.

And then it hits me …

Gasoline.

I glance around, and then I see it … liquid all over the floor.

She’s going to blow the place up.

Fuck!

I should leave, but I’ve come this far, and fuck this bitch for thinking she can outsmart me.

More rustling.

And then a scream.

I run toward where the sound came from when a loud boom sounds.

With my ears ringing, I don’t stop until I get to what I assume is the garage door.

Only when I open it, it’s not a garage. It’s some kind of basement.

Florida homes typically don’t have basements because the sea level is too high. I went over Eric’s blueprints when figuring out how to frame his wife for his murder, and this room was not on them, which means he either built it after the fact or did it without permits.

The room is already an inferno, but I can make out the woman screaming in agony as the blaze surrounds her, licking up her body. She’s trapped.

And then I look closer and find she’s sitting in a chair, not even bothering to move. Another look, and she’s tied up.

This doesn’t make any sense.

I step forward to try to save her, needing to know why she’s given up, when the fire intensifies, forcing me to take a step back. Leysa’s face disappears in the flames, and since I won’t risk my life for answers, I run out of the house, voice-texting my men to get away because the house is burning down.

I’ve only just made it out of the house when an explosion hits, causing the ground to shake. Windows blow out, glass flying everywhere.

“What the fuck happened?” Kaleb barks, damn near as invested as I am in finding Leysa.

“She set the house on fire.”

“You saw her?”

“In some makeshift basement. Looks like it was a suicide mission.”

Kaleb’s eyes go wide. “You sure you saw her?”