Total pages in book: 64
Estimated words: 61054 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 305(@200wpm)___ 244(@250wpm)___ 204(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61054 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 305(@200wpm)___ 244(@250wpm)___ 204(@300wpm)
“Maybe my mom and Murphy broke up for safety reasons and she fell into my uncle’s arms, but Murphy watched over her.”
“I watched over you, bella, when you went to LA, but when you started seeing Rich, it was all I could do not to kill him. I would have, too, but not you. I would never hurt you. Your mother was a movie star, and people were obsessed with her. What if your mother declined his attention and he went off the deep end?”
“And killed her?”
“Yes, bella, and killed her. Something doesn’t add up about any of this. My fear is that he’s now obsessed with you, but I’ve hesitated to say this because I don’t want to be wrong about this and affect your career. But him being here in town bothers me. His obsession with your father bothers me.”
“That could be an obsession with the Society. Or could he be Society? Am I playing into their hands through him, telling them everything we do?”
“I resist that idea because if he was, I believe they would have already used information he has from you, and turned it against us. I monitor everyone that could be Society or law enforcement trying to prove I’m the newer version of my father. I’ve had my people following him, monitoring his technology, and his associations from the day he came into your life and found out he had red flags. There has been nothing of concern.”
“I’d say it’s what you suggested, and I’ve thought from the beginning, that the FBI changed his identity, if not for this.” I lift the photo. “This is creepy. But so is the idea that maybe, just maybe, he’s Society, and that look, was one of hatred. I almost told him about my brother wanting to be an insider to take down the Society.”
“If he’s Society he’s using you for information and he’d just do the same with Andrew.”
“I’m not taking a chance. I’m not telling him about Andrew.” I stare down at the photo and then glance at Kane. “I have to have drinks with him tonight.”
“And say what to him?”
“I have to pretend nothing is wrong and we have to dig until we find out the truth.”
“You are not good at pretending, Lilah.”
“I am when I treat the other person like a suspect. And that’s exactly how I plan to treat Murphy from this point forward.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
I will meet Murphy. I will sit across from Murphy. I will investigate him like the criminal he may well be, and then I will respond appropriately, which may, or may not be, with a gun in my hand. Kane must read my reaction as, “I will shoot him, and I will kill him,” because when his secretary buzzes in and says, “Meeting in five,” Kane calls out, “I know when the meeting is,” dismissing her and remaining focused on me.
His hands coming down on my arms, he turns me to face him. “You need to think really hard about rescheduling. I know you. This is too fresh for you to sit across from him right now.”
“I have to meet him,” I say. “And while I typically prefer to stand on my own two feet, I can admit that you coming along might be a good idea. If I go for my gun, you can at least try and stop me.”
“The problem is, bella, I might not want to.”
“Then we go down in flames and bullet holes together. And, I’m joking. I’m going to treat this like my job. I’m going to do my job. Work the puzzle. Find the killer. Make the killer pay.”
He studies me a moment, his lips curving slightly. “You know, I don’t think you’ve ever asked me to come along and hold you up before.”
“This isn’t every other time.”
“No,” he says. “No, it’s not. You know I’ll be there.”
I do know he’ll be there. I know because if he’s there, I will contain my desire to pull my gun on Murphy.
Killing him won’t deliver answers, at least, killing him now won’t. If I find out that man manipulated me, and convinced me he was on my side, but he was really my mother’s assassin, he will die a slow, brutal death, and I will enjoy every second.
For now, though, I leave Kane as he walks into a meeting to negotiate drilling rights off the coast of Houston, but I have not left the news he’s delivered in that office. There is a clawing sensation in my belly that speaks to how shaken I am by the look on Murphy’s face in that photo. Assumptions make an ass out of you and me, I remind myself on the ride down the elevator. I know from years in law enforcement that there can be many explanations, but only one reality.