Page 106 of Darkness of Mine

On screen, Allie stares at Jude’s body. “Dead. I killed him. I told her I never would, but I did. I broke my promise.” Her bottom lip trembles as the gun slips from her grip and hits the floor. “What now?”

Zach scowls. “Now, you come with me and when my father finds out about this, you’re going to tell him exactly whatfucking happened. You’re going to make sure he knows I wasn’t involved.”

Still in a daze, I look back at Freya. She’s been quiet. Too quiet. I haven’t a clue what’s going on, my mind still trying to figure out how and why Allie fake shot Jude when my gaze drops to where Freya’s hand rests on the arm of my chair.

“Where’s your bracelet?” I ask.

I check her other hand in case I’ve gone mad but there’s no sign of the silver band with the hidden tracker River locked onto her wrist.

“Uh…” She swallows.

“Freya, where is your bracelet?” I ask again.

“She’s not wearing it,” River answers.

I frown but it’s Eli who speaks. “Why the fuck not?”

“Because,” River says, his eyes glued on the screen, “that isn’t Freya.”

My shoulders tense.

River watches who Ithoughtwas Allie and Zach walk out of shot on the remaining surveillance screens, then his gaze flicks back to the woman whose wrist I’m holding.

Her mouth parts. “You knew?”

River nods.

“When? When did you figure it out?” Allie asks.

It’s a good question, one I’d also like the answer to.

“I knew all along,” River admits.

My brain is sluggish, still putting together the switch Freya pulled with Allie, but Eli swings on River.

“Then why the fuck didn’t you stop her?”

River sighs. “Because, despite what Freya thinks, I trust her.”

44

FREYA

Playing Angelica came easier than I thought it would. When Zach walked into the apartment, I wasn’t the girl he’d abused or the woman he’s been tormenting, I was Allie.

It’s only now, as I sit in the passenger seat of Zach’s van, that I have to remember not to let the act slip. I want to check our surroundings, look in the rearview mirror to see if I can spot the teams tailing us, but I force myself to keep my eyes on the dashboard. Allie isn’t an FBI agent.

I have to stay focused though, because if I don’t, I’ll think about how Jude’s body jolted when I fired the shot. I’ll think about Oz and Eli and River in the other room. They’ll have figured out by now it wasn’t real but just for a moment, they’ll have thought Jude was dead. That Allie had killed him.

I hate that I did that to them. But I knew there was a chance Zach wouldn’t believe Jude was dead and while we didn’t want to trust Allie with too complex a con, it was easy enough for me to switch out Jude’s bullets for blanks and plant the squib Reaper gave me to make it look like he’d been shot. That was one of the many reasons I’d switched places with her.

Next to me, Zach’s grip on the steering wheel is tight, his knuckles pale. His gun is tucked into his waistband, out of my reach, and I try not to think about how fucking mad River is going to be that I’ve put myself in this position.

Zach made me leave my phone and gun behind, which means I have no weapon and no way to contact anyone. I am alone with a serial killer, and I can’t do anything to defend myself. Not yet. Not until Zach’s taken me back to where he’s keeping Harley.

The car jolts as Zach takes a sharp turn down a side street. I grip onto the door handle and bite the inside of my cheek. “What are you doing?” I ask, letting some of my fear seep into the question. Allie was never good at controlling her emotions.

“Did Maxwell teach you nothing?” Zach sneers, venom in his voice. “I’m making sure we don’t have a tail.”