Chapter 14 #2
careful. He kissed her, nuzzled her neck, and said, “I don’t want either of us to land in prison.”
“They’ll be dead soon enough,” she insisted. “This is fun. Maybe more fun than the others. Except for Emily. She was definitely the most fun.”
Audrey’s nemesis Emily started it all, and Garrett hadn’t minded getting revenge on the bitch who had hurt the woman he loved.
So he agreed to get a job at Sapphire Shoals after Audrey learned where Emily would be honeymooning. He started two months
before she and her husband arrived. And, he had to admit, it was exciting to use his engineering skills to create all the
fun traps. Everything worked perfectly.
He’d agreed that they couldn’t leave Florida right after the Hendersons disappeared, that it would be suspicious. Then Audrey
got a job at the resort and said it was full of losers to con. At first, Garrett thought she was targeting conventions, men
who were away from their boring daily lives were the easiest to lure. But then she said she wanted to “do it again” and he
knew what she meant.
The other two couples were more work than fun, at least for Garrett. He simply didn’t care. Sure, Audrey enjoyed herself,
and deep down Garrett considered that the additional murders would help cover up Audrey’s old connection to Emily, but still,
Garrett was worried. Things had . . . escalated. Audrey had insisted one last time when Garrett wanted to bolt. He refused.
Then he saw Kara.
He’d been about to give his two weeks’ notice when she and her not-husband had sat down at the bar by the pool. He’d been
repairing the ice maker. No one really noticed maintenance workers, so he had lingered longer than necessary. She was petite
and pretty, but she also looked stronger than the other women. She was . . . well, exactly his type. If he wasn’t with Audrey,
he might have asked her out. Except that she was married.
But she wasn’t, he knew now. It had been fake.
He would have liked to have seen her fall apart. The first three broke too soon. He’d known from the minute he saw Kara that
she wasn’t like the others. He was intrigued and more than a little bit attracted.
Not that he would have said that to Audrey.
Unfortunately, he hadn’t pegged her as a cop.
Audrey took out her phone and showed him the footage she’d saved. She watched him watch the video. “She almost got cut in half.”
“It’s too dangerous to keep them alive.”
“Babe, they might be cops, but they’re also lovers.”
“It was an act.”
She shook her head, leaned over and kissed him. She sat up, adjusted her shirt to cover her breasts. He zipped his pants.
He had too much to think about; another round of sex wasn’t in the cards.
“It wasn’t an act,” she said. “I watched them all weekend.” She scrolled through her phone, clicked on another video. “I was careful,
so this is from a distance. Look.”
Garrett watched the video of the two cops who tricked him kiss as they stood outside a restaurant. Then they held hands and
talked. They looked comfortable, intimate.
“They were together this weekend, in bed. If they were really just faking it to trap us, would they have stayed in the same room? And yesterday when they were in the gym? They were totally flirting. They kissed. It wasn’t just a friendly kiss, it was a wait until I get you alone kind of kiss.
I know when people are in love or in lust, and they have a lot of both going on. ”
“We have to kill them,” he said. “They were supposed to be dead before I was released. No more games.”
Audrey loved games, and sure, it was fun most of the time, but before now he hadn’t been really all that concerned about getting
caught. Before Florida, no one had died. He hadn’t thought much about the consequences because most of the people they played
with would never go to the police. And, well, the sex was always amazing. The thrill of the honey trap always made him and
Audrey super horny.
But his freedom was important. He wouldn’t give it up just to play games.
“Baby,” she pouted, “killing isn’t the fun part.”
“I can’t drive up there and take care of it myself. The FBI is following me. You have to do it. You have to kill them.”
She clicked her tongue. “First, Garrett, if we do nothing, they’ll die. They won’t be able to get out. The exits are traps,
you did an amazing job! They’ll go splat. So get a grip.”
He didn’t like when she minimized his concerns.
“Second,” she continued, “we can lose the stupid FBI. It’s more fun to play the game with you.”
He closed his eyes, put his head against her forehead. “I love you, Audrey. We have to think this through. This is no longer
a game. This is my life.”
“It’s our life. We’re in this together, now and always.”
He did love her, but dammit, he didn’t want to be in prison. They had nothing on him—and he should be able to get out from under these stupid attempted kidnapping charges. But he couldn’t risk it. He couldn’t risk going
back to court next Monday on the chance that they would put him behind bars.
While he didn’t see how they could find any evidence that he was involved with Audrey’s games, he knew the FBI had advanced forensic and surveillance tools.
So it was possible. They didn’t know about her, which was good, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t learn about her.
“We need to use our escape plan,” he said.
They had really good fake IDs and had always said if a situation became too hot, they’d go to a big city—New York would be
best—and blend in. They had money saved up from their previous cons, it wasn’t like they lived extravagantly. Audrey spent
too much money, as if it grew on trees, but he would temper that bad habit. They’d lie low, rebuild their nest egg. Because
if the cops found their factory in Georgia, they might be able to find evidence tying him and Audrey to the murders.
While it would be nice to clear his name, that was a pipe dream. They needed to disappear and regroup. Create a new plan. Get clear, solidify their
new identities, come up with a different game. A better game. No one needed to die. The risk just wasn’t worth it.
She was pouting.
“You know I’m right,” he said.
She frowned and nodded.
“I’ll come up with a new game, I promise.”
He wanted to make her happy; he just didn’t want to go to prison. She had to understand they were in a pickle right now.
She leaned into him. “What are you thinking?” she asked with a devious smile. “What kind of game?”
He smiled just as wickedly as she did. “Something just as fun, just as dangerous, but we’ll take a few different precautions.”
She ran her fingers down his neck. “What kind of precautions,” she said, her voice low and sexy.
“No more than three months in one place. And no dropping bodies for just anyone to find. But first, we have to get out of
this mess. Which means tonight, you kill the two feds. Leave their bodies. They won’t be found for months, if not years. By
that time, we’ll be long gone.”
“I can’t do it tonight,” she said. “I have to work in the morning, and if I miss my shift, they might get suspicious.”
“They won’t.”
“They might. I get off at one, then I’ll go. I’ll be back before dark.”
She was right that she shouldn’t miss work, but damn, he didn’t like knowing the cops were still alive and might be able to identify Audrey.
“Why can’t you go now? It’s only a couple hours there, you’ll be back before dawn.”
“Baby, it’ll be dark, I don’t like driving those roads late at night.”
That was no excuse, but he wasn’t going to push it.
“Alright,” he said. “But leave right when your shift is over and make sure you’re not followed.”
“No one will follow me—they’re watching you, remember?” She glanced upstairs and whispered, “What are we going to do about the lawyer?”
“He’s your friend.”
“Well, I don’t trust him, so I took some precautions.”
“I thought you had something on him.” He assumed the man slept with her and she had pictures to show his wife. It was a good
con, and one that had worked for them dozens of times.
“Well, now I do.”
Garrett tensed, almost threw Audrey off him. “What have you done?”
“Calm down.”
“He could rat us out, Audrey. You told me you trusted him!”
“He can’t. Attorney-client privilege.”
“You’re not his client!”
“Don’t be paranoid.”
“Audrey—”
“I have them.”
He blinked. “What are you talking about?”
“His family. They’re at the house. I told them if they leave, I’ll kill Franklin. And the kid is in the cage. The mom will
never leave him there, because I’ll kill him and she knows it.”
Garrett’s head was spinning. Audrey had kidnapped the lawyer’s family? A kid?
“You’re not making any sense. You told me you had a lawyer who would help and look the other way.”
“And he is.”
“What’s this about his family then?”
“Look, I know Franklin. He fucked me over years ago, so now he gets what he deserves. I put him in my back pocket in case
we needed him. And we did. You should be happy I have a long memory.” She pouted again, her eyes watering. “He hurt me, Garrett.”
“What did he do?” Garrett was beginning to second-guess their entire plan. He didn’t like unknowns.
She put her chin up. “I don’t like your attitude. I love you, and everything I’ve done, I’ve done because you’re my one and
only.”
Garrett squeezed his eyes shut. Took a deep breath.
“Did they see you?” he asked quietly.
“Do you think I’m stupid?”
Now she was getting mad, and Garrett knew better than to make Audrey mad—she might do something really stupid.
“Of course not,” he said. “But the police don’t know anything about you, and while I don’t want to go to jail, I don’t want
you there, either.”
“Aw, you’re so sweet.” She kissed him. “I blindfolded them and I had a disguise just in case. They never saw me. So we’re
safe. And they won’t leave.” She still had Franklin’s phone. She edited the photo of herself and Franklin so that she was
blurred out and then she sent it to his wife with a message, which Garrett read over her shoulder.
I’m not joking. If you leave the house, Franklin is dead. Maybe that’s what you want?
“Not only do I have their total and complete fear, I have cameras everywhere. Sunday morning, she tested me. Nearly got her
leg blown off. I called her. Made sure she understood that next time, Franklin would die—or her son. She got the hint.”
“Sometimes, you drive me crazy.”
“Like this?” She grinned and put her hand on his penis.
He moaned and shifted. “No. Like not understanding the risks.”
She called upstairs. “Franklin! Get down here now!”
“I don’t want an audience.”
“Shh,” she said and kissed him. “Trust me.”
A moment later, Franklin came down the stairs. He stared at them half naked on the couch and blushed. He actually blushed.
Garrett was now really wondering how this lawyer had screwed over Audrey.
“Franklin,” Audrey said with a smile, “just so you know, this little game we’re playing? We already won. I know where your
wife and brat are—you don’t. Remember that. I know everything about you, about Lily, about your properties and how much money
you have in the bank. I know where your in-laws live, and I even know where your ex-wife and daughter live in Texas. And your
daughter is going off to college next year, isn’t she?”
His eyes widened and Audrey laughed. Garrett didn’t think it was smart to push Franklin too hard—there was only so much humiliation
a man could take.
Audrey said, “They’re all safe if you obey the rules I laid out very clearly. Do you understand?”
“Y-yes.” His voice cracked and he looked terrified.
“Good. Now go back upstairs so I can fuck my husband’s brains out again.”