AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I need to stay,” I rushed out. “I have to scrub the security cameras and check—”
“Absolutely not,” Ezra ordered, grasping my hand, ready to haul me out of there. “We can’t be extradited back here—”
“But it’s possible to get stopped on the way,” I argued. “What if they corner us driving to the airport? Or we get to Sri Lanka or Malaysia and get boarded?” I held up my hand, my fingers extended. “I need five minutes, Ez.”
Gesturing to Ry, I added, “Get Ry to the airport. I’ll wipe the servers and be right behind you. The longer we stand here arguing about it—”
“Fuck no,” Tristan declared. “I’m not leaving without you. Ez and Flynn, you take Ry. He needs you more than he needs me. Call ahead. Get them to prep the plane for an immediate take-off. I’ll stay with Zali and make sure we get out of here.”
Ez shook his head, and Tristan added, “She’s right. We finish this properly.”
Ezra’s shoulders dropped, and he reluctantly swapped spots with Tristan, helping steady Ry’s injured arm. My guys needed to help Ry more than he needed the assistance, but neither of us called them out.
Flynn’s lips were turned down in a frown, and he shook his head. “So help me, Zee. If you aren’t five minutes behind us, I’ll unleash hell to get you back by my side. You hear me? Make sure you come home to us. You too, Tris. I’m not giving either of you up.”
“What he said,” Ry added with a wince.
“I love you. All of you,” I whispered, my heart overflowing with love for these men. Even now—especially now—when we were on the run for our lives, they were fighting to protect me. “I’m five minutes behind. I promise.”
Tristan went over to the crumpled body, not giving it a second glance, and picked up the gun she’d dropped. “Let’s go. Clock’s ticking.”
With a nod to the others, he dragged me away from them. “Where do we look?”
“Find an office. The security system will be controlled via a laptop.”
My steps stuttered to a stop, and Tris hugged me close to him. “We’ll be out of here soon.”
“I can’t believe we’ve just sent them off. Jesus, what if Ry’s not okay?” My heart thumped hard, adrenaline running through me, my breathing too fast.
Tris gripped my arms and waited until I looked up at him. “Ry is okay. Ez and Flynn both have first aid training. They’re looking after him. We need to do our job and get the hell out of here.”
We really did have to move—there was no way I was spending a lifetime in jail for doing the world a fucking favour.
Nodding, I tilted my chin toward the stairs off the large living area. “Let’s go.”
“That’s my girl.”
We dashed up the stairs to the third level, and I stumbled out onto the deck. But I didn’t linger. My only regret of the night was that I didn’t throw the bitch off the roof myself, but the realization on her face that she was a dead woman was good enough for me.
Going up to the second level, we ran through the house, turning lights on in every room we passed. It was enormous, bedrooms and sitting rooms, a library, a music room, and a main suite that would rival any one of the ones belonging to Kardashians. Room after room of designer furniture and pristinely kept spaces passed in a blur, and my disgust grew.
She’d stolen all that money for what? To live alone on the opposite side of the world to her family? This house was a museum. It had no life in it. There wasn’t a single personal memento, not a single photograph. Had she ever had a visitor? Or had she been alone in her castle, bar her staff, for a decade? It would have made for a lonely life, one that was still far too good for her.
“Got it,” Tris called out from a couple of doors away from me down the long hall.
Relief swamped me, and I dashed past him into the room. If you’d told me ten years ago that I’d be in this room and not giving a shit that it was my mother’s, I wouldn’t have believed it. Hell, even a week ago, I wouldn’t have believed it. Un-fucking-believable what the truth does to a person.
I sat down, the latest model slimline laptop in front of me, and wiggled my finger on the touchpad. Precious seconds ticked by as the operating system loaded. I laughed, relief crashing into me.
Lady luck was on my side tonight. Karma must not be too pissed off.
Navigating to the security software, I deleted both the feed and the cloud backup without hesitation. I’d worked with these systems before. They were nothing more than a feel-good platitude, virtually useless for anything except recording the goings on at the property. But the recordings often weren’t clear enough to view. Salt spray and rain played havoc with the cameras, and even the night vision was sub-par.
I should have finished up with that, but I wanted her photos. I did a quick scroll through, and the album looked complete. She’d obviously been bored enough to have put them all in order, including saving a folder marked “Asher.” I didn’t hesitate, yanking the charging cable out of the wall and racing out.
I wanted to know everything the bitch had done so I could systematically scrub the memory of her life off this earth.
“Tris,” I called. “Where are you?”
