Page 131 of A Lethal Game of Trust

My security app dinged. The gate of Leonie’s childhood home was open, a Mustang drove through to park directly in front of the house.

And there she was, stepping out of the car as the gate closed behind her.

As quickly as my thumbs could tap, I switched to the camera on the porch to see more of her.

She’d cut her hair to her shoulders, and her natural waves now had more of a curl. Her dark red coat came past her knees, the one she had worn that night when she tried to sneak out to her ex-boyfriend’s. But under her coat were leather trousers and thigh-high boots. She climbed the steps steadily, with determination, unlike the last time she had been with me.

I was so focused on her walk I nearly missed what was in her hand.

A gun.

My heart was in my throat as I stood, scrambling to blindly find my keys in the laptop case, not taking my eyes off her.

“What is it?” Chris asked, already at my side. He handed the keys to me.

“Doesn’t want to be found, huh?” I said and angled the phone so he could see. Just as Leo looked directly at me through the camera. She seemed tired, her expression blank. Then she lifted the gun and shot the camera perfectly.

“Doesn’t want to be found,” Chris confirmed, but I was already on my way out the door. “You’re not going there, are you?” he called, jogging to catch up with me.

The lift was taking too long to get up to this floor.

“Dom, she’s unhinged. You can’t go alone.”

“It’s Leonie,” I said. “I’m not in any danger.”

“You think you’re not. You’re not going alone.”

“Chris—”

“I’m sending a team. Precautionary. Get the gun out of her hands and I’ll disband them, but—”

The lift dinged and I walked into it, going from camera to camera on the app, looking for any sign of her. I hadn’t installed cameras inside. Why hadn’t I installed cameras inside?

Why did she have that gun? She hadn’t — she didn’t mean to— she wouldn’t dothat, would she?

So I called the last person I wanted to talk to—the man she had picked.

As my phone dialled, I told Chris, “It’ll be fine. But this is private. You can send a team, but theystay outside.”

“Yes, sir,” he said and the doors closed.

“What do you want?” Sam said on the phone with a sigh. Soft pop music played in the background.

“Why aren’t you with Leonie?”

“Oh, I am with Leonie. In every way—”

“Yun, why are you not with herright now? Do you know where she is?”

“She flew back home this week. I have some business, but I’m joining her—”

“She is at her house with agun, Sam.”

Sam had the audacity to laugh. “You really don’t actually know her, do you? Always underestimate her. Yes, Leonie has a gun. When has she not had one on her? With her line of work—” he stopped himself. “She’s fine, Dom.”

But her expression was blank, as if she felt nothing. She had gonethere. She hadn’t wanted me to see.

“You really are a piece of shit.”