Chapter 18
“Cameras are down,” Foxe says into my earpiece.
Alex pulls into Ava and Ryan’s driveway and I slip out, moving into the shadows of their hedges. The sun has finally set so I’ve got the shadows and darkness as cover.
Alex reverses away quickly and I sprint down the driveway.
We’ve done this kind of thing before and by now I know where all the cameras in the neighborhood are, so it’s easy enough (relatively speaking, since I have Foxe’s skills as backup) to break in unseen.
I head around back, try the patio doors. Locked. Then I try a couple more windows. All locked. But when I nudge the window to Ava’s office, it eases open.
“Of course,” I mutter, glad she must open this thing all the time to smoke. No alarm goes off, but that doesn’t mean anything. “I’m inside,” I say over our comm line to both Foxe and Alex.
Foxe is back at the pool house, hiding out from my family.
She wouldn’t even let us add her to the list at the guardhouse.
Instead I had to “smuggle” her in (not like anyone checks the vehicles) because she doesn’t like anyone to know her business.
So she rode in the back of Cara’s SUV under a blanket like she was breaking out of prison.
Now that I think about it, if there’s more than one person involved in Cara’s murder, what’s to say they didn’t bring some stranger into the neighborhood that way as well?
But no. Cara knew her killer. They wouldn’t have had to sneak in. Unless they were trying to stick to an alibi.
And I’ve got to stop—if I let myself, I’ll get too off track. And right now I’ve got to stay focused on the task at hand. I’m here for a reason.
I move quickly, sitting at Ava’s desk in front of her laptop. I type in the same password I saw her input yesterday. Relief slides through me when it works.
“I’m in the laptop,” I whisper, even though no one is in the house.
Ryan is at his country club, which I’m sure is code for drinking with his work buddies since it’s too late to golf.
And Ava is working late—I know this because I called her earlier to see if she wanted to get together for a drink.
But she’s working on a big project, which I know about, and from the sound of it, has more on her plate now that Cara is…
gone. Ava also complained that Ryan was off enjoying himself instead of picking up slack at work.
Her admission surprised me, and the bitterness in her voice was very real.
There is definitely trouble between the two of them.
I shake myself. Focus, focus. I’m not sure how much longer I’ll have to work here.
“Road is clear,” Alex murmurs. She’s currently out walking the neighborhood with Fiona (who doesn’t know what I’m doing) looking at Christmas lights.
I simply told Fiona I needed a favor, and to my surprise my niece didn’t even balk.
Maybe there is something to being honest with her.
I just hope I don’t regret it in the future.
The other girls are at home with Ethan watching a movie, and plan to drive around on the golf cart looking at lights as soon as it’s over.
So this is my only window to do this.
I’m pretty good with tech, but nothing compared to Foxe, so I follow her instructions and soon she’s remotely logged into the laptop.
Foxe curses, then starts grumbling to herself before saying, “She’s got a program set up that essentially prevents remote copying. It makes sense, considering what she does.”
“What does that mean for me?”
“Did you bring a USB?”
“Of course.” I’m already pulling it out.
“If she ever does a file audit, she’ll know someone copied her stuff.”
Yeah, I know. We’ve run into this issue before. “I’ll try and grab what I can.” The chances of her company doing an audit is likely high, something I worry about. If she’s not involved in my sister’s murder, I don’t want to get her fired. “Unless there’s another way to do this?”
“No. We either get this information or we don’t.”
“What if it has nothing to do with Cara?” I don’t want an innocent person to get hurt because of me.
They’re both silent, because this is my decision to make. I plug the USB in and start copying work files.
“Ava’s here,” Alex says suddenly, then curses. “She didn’t come from the front entrance. How the hell did she— Just get out of there, she’s pulling into the driveway.”
No way in hell. We’re only at forty percent.
“Can you stall her? What’s Fiona doing?”
“She’s talking to a neighbor by a Santa and reindeer display. Okay, a neighbor is jogging across to talk to Ava. Now’s the time.” Alex’s voice is muted, but I can hear others around her.
“At seventy percent.” I’ve committed, now I have to see this through.
I know what I’m doing is wrong. Her company has government contracts, among others. I know I could go to jail if I get caught. And I’m okay with it. Or maybe not okay with it, but I’m willing to face the consequences.
I’m stealing important files with no promise I’ll even gain anything from them. But I will break almost any law to find Cara’s killer.
“Ninety-three,” I whisper. “Where is she?”
“Pulling up the damn driveway. Get the fuck out of there now.” Alex’s voice is urgent.
“Almost there.” It seems stuck on ninety-three, and when I hear a soft chime in the background I force myself to remain right where I am.
Ninety-seven, ninety-eight, ninety-nine. Oh my god, come on! I silently scream at the computer.
The thump of my heart is a staccato drumbeat in my chest. I can hear faint movement somewhere in the house. What will I do if I’m caught? Tell the truth? Run?
One hundred percent. I resist the urge to rip it out and instead move quietly, quickly, then creep back to the window I came in through.
Ava is talking to someone, and for a moment I freeze. But then I realize she’s on the phone.
I slide out the window, my boots quiet in the dirt, but can’t close it all the way because her voice is too loud and I’m worried she’ll see me. Then I hear her in the office as I plaster myself against the exterior wall.
“I don’t think he knows. I don’t know… It’s fine. Everything is fine. I have everything under control. Damn it,” she mutters, then I see her hand reaching out the window only to realize that she’s simply pulling it shut.
After that I can’t hear anything, and it doesn’t matter. I’ve got to get out of here now.
I make my way back to the driveway, thankful that Foxe has hacked into not only the cameras but the other smart functions, including the floodlights. So no spotlights illuminating me skulking around.
By the time I make it to the end of the driveway, I’ve sweated all the way through my clothes. Luckily my jacket should cover it, but I feel like I’ve just stepped out of a sauna.
“Hey.” Alex pops out from behind one of the hedges and I stifle a yelp. “You get it?”
I nod, then make my way to the sidewalk with her, wave at Fiona and the neighbor she’s still talking to. The woman doesn’t seem surprised to see me, so she must assume I’ve been with them the whole time.
People see what they want to see and often dismiss important clues. Which is probably how Cara’s murderer got away with killing her in the middle of the day in a gated neighborhood.
But they won’t get away with it for long.