Page 146 of The Echo of Forever

Forty-five minutes had passed since I’d picked the lock on Millicent’s private entrance. Oliver had slipped into the bathroom fifteen minutes ago after securing the bar downstairs.

Opening wasn’t for another five hours, and according to Violet, the staff didn’t start showing up until about an hour beforehand.

I stuck Gaia’s encryption key into the router and shot off a text.

Do your thing.

Even though Gaia had gone back to D.C., where she and her husband lived full-time, she agreed to play around with Millicent’s security cameras for this job specifically.

And she hadn’t been cheap either, but money wasn’t an issue when it came to my wife.

Forever’s hearing concluded, I tucked my phone in the black coveralls I wore and waited in the silence.

Ten minutes later, I heard her voice as she slammed her car door shut and approached the entrance.

“No, Jayden! You already agreed and she has proof.” Millicent’s voice carried through the door, her frustration clear. “The goddamn license was sealed until just now, so how was I supposed to know?”

I listened to her punch in a code, get it wrong and then try again twice before access was granted. The sequence of numbers sounded the same each time, which led me to believe Gaia was fucking with her on purpose.

“And that was my mistake for hiring him but we both know your mother isn’t going to retaliate against us. She’ll direct her anger toward them. You’re her only son left.”

She wasn’t wrong but was obviously not thinking her logic through. Seo-Yeon wouldn’t hurt Jayden, but Millicent on the other hand was a different story.

Luckily for them, I liked to eliminate threats before ideas of revenge can form completely.

The door swung open, Millicent stepped in and pushed it shut behind her. When she looked up, our eyes met.

“We can’t meet yet—”

She froze mid-sentence, phone still pressed to her ear.

“I have to go,” she said softly, never breaking eye contact with me as she ended the call.

With impressive speed, she reached for the gun holstered at her hip.

“You’re ahead of schedule…” she raised and pointed it at my chest. “She said three days.”

I lifted an eyebrow, curious about what Forever had told her. But before I could respond, Oliver emerged from the bathroom, his footsteps silent until he was directly behind her, pressing his gun to the back of her head.

“I’ll take that, Ms. Everwood,” he said, plucking it from her hand.

Millicent chuckled.

“What’s this about three days?” I asked, watching as her composure crumbled slightly.

“Your wife said I wouldn’t make it three days before you killed me.”

That brought a smile to my face. Forever was catching on fast, knew I wouldn’t let a threat to her breathe longer than necessary. Still, there was something to correct.

“I’m still working on her understanding of me,” I said, dropping my booted feet to the floor and standing. “After this she’ll know there ain’t too many days I’ll let pass with a threat to her life walking around free.”

I tugged at my coveralls, adjusting them before flexing my gloved hands.

“I do have a question for you. The way you die depends on how you answer.”

Oliver guided Millicent to the chair I’d vacated, keeping his gun visible as a reminder. I moved to stand in front of the two-way glass wall that overlooked the empty bar floor.

“Or we can make another deal and—”