Page 98 of Darkness of Mine

“Most likely, yes.”

“Which is why we have to give him a good enough reason to show,” River adds.

“And how do we do that?”

“You’re going to kill Jude,” I tell Allie.

Her eyes widen before she leans forward and says in a low voice, “I thought you told me I wasn’t supposed to do the whole murdering thing?”

Oz puts a hand between us. “Whoa, you’re not actually going to kill him. We’re just going to make it look like you have.”

“Oh.” Allie nods. “Got it.” She screws up her face. “I still don’t understand though. Why would me killing Jude make Zach show? And how can we be sure he’ll take me with him?”

I wring my hands together and look back at River. This is the part of the plan that could mean everything falls apart. We’re working on an assumption, that if we’re wrong, will ruin everything.

But my gut tells me we’re right.

Zach’s known I’ve broken my end of our deal for over two weeks now and he’s not come after any of the guys. The fact that he made the deal in the first place when what he wants to do is hurt me is strange enough, and something Jeremiah said when I met with him stuck in my head.

“Zach’s dad told me that he had him under control and my team and I had nothing to fear from him. I think he’s forbid Zach from harming any of us.”

“Why would he do that?” Allie asks.

“I don’t know exactly.” It’s not a lie, I don’t know for sure, but having spoken with Carmen, I suspect it’s got a lot to do with her and whatever she means to Jeremiah.

Allie’s face remains blank as she works it out. “So, I’m going to kill Jude and essentially threaten to frame Zach for it.”

I nod. “He’ll show up to try and do damage control and you’ll be a liability, so he’ll take you with him.”

Allie tilts her head to the side. “Either that or he’ll kill me.”

My stomach sinks.

“We won’t let that happen,” Oz says. “We’ll be nearby, and we’ll be watching. If it looks like he’s going to hurt you, we’ll arrest him, but this is our best shot at getting him to reveal where he’s keeping Harley.”

Allie nods. “Okay. I’ll do it.”

Air rushes out of me. “Are you sure?”

She nods again. “He hurt you. He deserves to die.”

I don’t tell her that killing him isn’t the plan. And I do my best to ignore the voice in my head telling me she’s right. That I should kill him.

Eli and Jude come in with coffee and cookies and we go through the whole plan three times over till we all know our parts by heart. We’re double checking anything that could go wrong when Eva turns up with the drugs we need.

She shows Oz how to extract the liquid and inject it into Jude. The right amount should lower his heart rate enough to make it undetectable for a limited period of time.

I’m reluctant to use Jude when he’s still recovering from his injury but him being injured makes it more plausible that Allie could have gotten the jump on him. And Eva assures us that as long as we get the antidote in him soon enough, he’ll be perfectly fine.

The plan is insane but it’s solid, and I never would have been able to hatch a con like this without River.

An hour later, we’re all getting ready to leave. Allie’s gone upstairs to pack a bag and Hannah—my mom—I still don’t know what to call her, catches me as I come out of the restroom.

She hugs her arms around her torso, the sleeves of her gray cardigan tugged over her palms. “You’re taking her with you?”

“For now. We need her help.”

“To stop Zach.” It’s not a question but I nod anyway.