Page 31 of Accepted Precedent (Love & Politics #3)

“I don’t have time to go through what’s been done already. We’ve tried it the easy way.” I take a deep breath, hold it, then slowly blow it out, repeating three times. “Okay. I’m going in.”

It’s been years since I’ve shot a gun, and my hands are a little shaky. I check twice that it’s loaded and the safety is off. I’ll have only a minute or so to do this, and there is no room for error.

I hug Evie, and she squeezes me tighter. Then I turn off the lantern and step out, keeping the door slightly ajar.

I didn’t think this through…

Hiding the gun behind my back, I knock on the door. There’s rustling on the other side, then he opens it. It’s a shame I have to kill him—he’s quite attractive and has the most sinfully gorgeous blue eyes. If he wasn’t supposed to die tonight, I’d ask him to have a drink with me downstairs.

He rubs the sleep from his eyes. “Can I help you?”

“Hi, yes, I’m just across the way, and it looks like there’s a power outage. My cellphone is dead, and the hotel phone isn’t working. Can I use your phone?”

He glances behind him into the room, then replies, “Uh, sure. One second. Let me grab it.”

Shit. This isn’t going to work. I keep the door wide open as he walks further in. With his back turned to me, it’s now or never.

I lift the gun, aim for the back of his head, and shoot. There’s a groan and a thump as his body crumples to the ground. I turn on the flashlight on my phone to check the damage and confirm I don’t need to take a second shot. Thankfully, he’s alone.

Now what?

Think, Kristin! Think!

I begin talking myself through it, “In case Ned can’t get to us, I need this to look like someone broke in. Maybe he was mugged? Yes. Mugged. Okay, this could work…”

Rushing to the bathroom, I locate a washcloth and use it to remove the wallet from his back pocket. Tucking the gun under my arm, I sift through it in search of his keycard in case we need to come back in here.

“Damn, it’s not here.”

I don’t have time to find it and have to hope Ned will have a way to enter without a card. I knock over a lamp and trash can, dumping out its contents, then slip out of the room. I make it back into mine right as the lights turn back on.

That was a close one.

“Fuck, I need a drink.”

“Kristin!” Evie screeches, and I cover her mouth with my hand.

“Shh! Do you want us to get caught?”

I pull my hand back, and she shakes her head, whispering, “No, but… you really killed him?”

“For a woman who fucks someone who has killed dozens of men, how is this a shock to you?”

“Because you’re my sister!” she snaps, then lowers her voice. “What do we do now?”

I groan, pushing past her. “You used to be such a fucking badass, taking on organizations who tried to strip away privacy protections and women’s rights.

Now look at you? What do we do now? ” Her eyes widen at my mocking, but I don’t let up.

“Come the fuck on, Evie. We don’t need a man to come save us.

Ned will clean it up because we asked him to, but stop acting like a helpless cunt. ”

“I-I’m not helpless.”

“Yes, you are. You’ve become too comfortable with your pretty house and your fucking sourdough—which is delicious, by the way, but that’s not the point.

You were meant for more. We need to be smart about this.

If the authorities get to him before Ned does, the cameras are now working in the hallways, so they could trace it back to us.

We need to leave and put on a show. Drunk sisters stumbling in the hallway, going out for the night. ”

“Are you insane? It’s two in the morning! What thirty-something women go out at two after bars close?”

“Fuck, you’re right. Um, okay, so what if we get in our bathing suits and pretend to go to the pool?”

“It’s closed,” she huffs, wringing her hands. “We could hire a male stripper? Pretend it’s someone’s bachelorette party?”

“We’re on the right track, but who would we call that we could trust?”

“Right… Oh!” Her eyes dance with mischief. “I have an idea. We’ll take a page out of Christopher’s book. I’ll invite Mickey here and we’ll catch on camera that I’m cheating. It’ll take the heat off.”

“First of all…” I number it off with my finger. “It’s barely cheating. You’re in love with him, and your marriage is just an inconvenience at this point. And second...” I lift another finger. “It’ll fuck over things with Andrew.”

“Then what the hell are we supposed to do?”

“Finn is dealing with something right now, and Mickey is, well, probably balls-deep in your husband’s ass.

” Damn, what I wouldn’t give to have someone balls-deep in my ass…

“I’ll call Ned, but while I’m on the phone, I need you to call Saoirse—Mickey’s cousin.

In case I can’t reach Ned, she has contact information for anyone we could need who could black out the cameras again for us.

Worst case, you can slip out of the hotel undetected, or at least get back to your room. ”

As I scroll to find her contact info, Evie places her hand over mine. “No. You’re my sister, so I’m staying. We need to get rid of the murder weapon, but I’m not going to leave you until I know you’re safe. Call Ned, and see what’s best at this point.”

I nod and call Ned, he picks up after two rings. “Good evening, Ms. Proctor. I take it the job is done.”

“It is, but we ran into an issue. I… I had to do it myself.” Evelyn interlaces her fingers with mine and squeezes. I continue, “I had to use Mickey’s gun. My sister is here with me, but before we leave, I need to know that none of this will trace back to me, Evelyn, or the Gallaghers.”

“Well, we have a few options: We can get the two of you back to Mickey’s room after I shut off the cameras.

In the morning, you’ll join your sister and change into workout clothes, then go to the gym at the hotel.

After a quick thirty-minute session with girl-talk about how you slept like babies, you’ll go to brunch as if nothing is amiss.

It could still come back to bite you in the ass if the authorities get there before I do to clean it up. ”

“And what are the other options?”

“Well,” he chuckles, “they’re messier.”

“How messy?” I wince.

“I shut off the cameras, you start clean-up for me so I can get in and out quickly, and we doctor the video footage.”

“One second.” I cover my hand over the receiver and relay to Evie, “He says we can sneak you back to Mickey’s room and then go to brunch.”

“Brunch? What the fuck? No, I’m not leaving you,” she whisper-shouts, and I don’t blame her.

“Or we can start clean-up for him, and he’ll doctor the camera footage.” I then ask Ned, “Which is the safest for everyone involved?”

“Option two,” he replies without hesitation.

“If the bullet is found in his body, they’ll trace it back to the Gallaghers—you’ll need to remove it.

If everything goes to plan, I’ll make it look as if he never returned to his room after the gala, so he’ll be a missing person.

I can stage something in the next day or so, away from the hotel.

You are my client for this project, not the Gallaghers, so whatever you want to do to protect you and your sister, I’ll do it. ”

“How do we start the”—I shut my eyes tight—“clean-up process?”