AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Anna looked around again, a knot forming in her throat.
Since this agent had shown up, she’d slipped up twice. First at the warehouse, and then sometime this morning.
She’d been playing Diaz for years and had been so vigilant, so careful... flawless, even.
But now she felt off-balance. A sense of dread loomed like a shadow, and this agent was really starting to mess with her mind.
He was different than other agents she’d come across. He had a confidence that was real but not arrogant—and he was the first person who had ever seen straight through her. He’d seen the shot at the warehouse but could’ve rationalized it, as she’d hoped he would do.
But the way he looked at her today when he’d saidliartold her he didn’t believe the role she was playing for a moment.
For the first time in years, she felt seen—she felt like Anna King, like the person she was supposed to be. She was tired of this game and wanted it over.
She closed her eyes briefly, dismissing that thought.
It wasn’t over—it couldn’t be, not until she found Olivia’s body and made Diaz pay.
Anna needed to stay strong until then. She needed to stick to her plan. The agent may be charming and smart and dangerously handsome with just the right amount of confidence that made him impossible to forget, but that didn’t change anything.
Never trust someone who needs something from you.
Agents like Jackson had a job to do. They’d use you and then discard you when it suited them. Anna was not going to be discarded by anyone.
She was the one who would be doing the discarding.
Jackson was not going to solve her problems for her and joining up with the Feds would only end in disaster. She would end up like Alex.
Anna had a plan and she needed to stick to it.
Resolved, she mentally recommitted to her plan. The sooner this was over the better and then she’d move away from this town. There would be nothing left for her once she burned it all to the ground.
Soon,Anna promised herself.
Soon.
She heard the car before it came around the corner and, as it neared, she knew who it belonged to.
“Need a ride?” Diaz asked as he lowered his window.
“I like walking, you know that,” she said. She wondered if him turning up now meant he’d been watching her too. That was the thing about paranoia: it started like a clump of wet snow that grew a little with each thought until it became an avalanche racing down a mountain—and she knew she was on her way to the peak. She needed to get this under control before her paranoia caused her to make mistakes.
He winked at her. “I’m going to Sloan’s for a coffee. I’ll see you in a few hours. Your cat hissed at me this morning,” he said, raising an eyebrow.
Anna would’ve laughed but the paranoia was more potent. She’d been with Diaz all night. Why had he gone to her house this morning?
She played coy. “It’s not my fault she doesn’t like you,” she said with a slight laugh. “What were you doing visiting her anyway?”
Diaz laughed. “I wasn’t visiting her,” he said, shaking his head. “I dropped off something for you. Let me know if you like it.”
Anna’s eyebrows lifted. “Now I’m intrigued,” she said as she heard the rumble of another engine behind them.
Diaz looked in the rearview mirror, then drove off.
Anna looked into the passing car and saw a woman singing with three kids in the car. It struck Anna how happy this woman looked and yet again that yearning for a normal life ran through her veins like poison.
She squeezed her eyes shut.
Not yet. You’re not done yet.
