Page 85
Story: Lethal Deceit
Adena unscrews her water bottle cap. “He’s trying to save you too. Don’t forget that.”
My shoulders tense, and my pulse speeds at the suggestion. “Butwhy?”
She pulls out a chair and settles into it. “I dunno. I barely know the guy. But if I had to guess, I’d say it was for the same reason he saved your life the first time. It’s who he is.”
“I can’t let him do that for me.”
Adena rolls her neck until it pops, her eyes narrowing. “You won’t get a say. It’s already in motion.”
The words tumble out before I can stop them. “I have a better plan. They won’t expect it. Put a camera on me. You’ll be able to see how many are inside and what condition Brooke is in.”
Her head jerks back, body rocking slightly in the chair. She’s not the only one caught off guard.
My chest tightens, breath shallow, heart pounding. I don’t even know where the idea came from—just that it burst out like it had been waiting, buried somewhere beneath the panic and guilt and desperation. My voice shakes, but I don’t try to take it back. It’s reckless. Probably stupid. But it feels right.
I can’t watch Mick sacrifice himself for me.
“What makes you think you’ll get inside?”
The plan comes together so rapidly in my mind that my mouth struggles to keep up. “Someone is in charge over there. It isn’t a solitary guy with a gun. I’ll show up and tell them I have information the leader needs to hear.”
“It’s a nice idea, and kudos for having the best of intentions, but that doesn’t mean they won’t shoot you and then Brooke.”
Oh. Crap. This is the part that’s going to be tricky.
“I need Mick’s phone. They’d need to receive a text from me saying I’ve escaped.”
Her cheeks puff before she blows out a breath. “You’re not just gambling with your life. You’re gambling with Brooke’s.”
“Isn’t this all a gamble? We both know she could already be dead. There is no sense in everyone risking their lives for a dead woman.”
Adena purses her lips and fixes her gaze on a spot on the grimy Formica table. “How long have you been thinking about this idea?”
I brush her question off. I can’t tell her it formed out of a deep panic that Mick was going to die. “I can get Mick’s phone off him and make the call, but I’ll need your help to leave.”
Adena’s eyebrow arches just slightly, her mouth curling at the edges. “There are easier ways to prove you want to change, you know.”
I toss my hair over my shoulder and shrug like it’s no big deal. “Maybe. But this will work. I know it will.”
She grimaces. “Why? Because you’re in love with him?”
The words stop me cold.
I laugh—too quick, too forced—but it dies halfway out. I start to deny it, but nothing comes. The silence stretches. My chest tightens.
Love?
No. That can’t be right.
“Are you going to help me?”
She rises slowly, walks around the table, and plants her hands on my shoulders with a solid thud. I flinch, but hold steady.
“You, Samantha Duke, have ovaries of steel,” she mutters. “But you’re running on pure emotion. No one’s signing off on this just because you’ve fallen for Mick.”
My stomach sinks. “You have to let me do this.”
“No, I don’t.” Adena crosses her arms. “For some reason I can’t explain, you’re growing on me. And I don’t send my friends off to die because they think that’s how they earn a man’s love.”
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85 (Reading here)
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 100
- Page 101
- Page 102
- Page 103
- Page 104
- Page 105
- Page 106
- Page 107
- Page 108
- Page 109
- Page 110
- Page 111