Chapter 18
eighteen
. . .
Addie couldn’t help grinning to herself as she walked purposefully up the stadium stairs to the concourse level.
Her plan to ingratiate herself with Lane’s family was going swimmingly, if she did say so herself.
Birdie Lawless was eating out of the palm of her hand, and she was confident the rest of the family would come around in due time.
Including Lane, once she got rid of the pesky little problem that was Sutton Rausch. She was willing to chalk up his outburst from the night before as nothing more than a tiny little blip on their radar.
As though all the higher powers in the universe were looking over her, guiding her on her mission, Addie’s gaze landed on the rat in question when she reached the concourse, which was filled with people getting snacks from concessions or visiting the spirit stores set up with merch from each state championship team.
Sutton was straight ahead, where one of the concessions workers handed her a hot chocolate. Sutton tapped her credit card against the reader, slipped her mittens back on, and thanked the worker before walking away—in the opposite direction of where the Lawless family sat below in the stands.
Interesting.
The last thing Addie needed was to draw attention to herself, not when her entire plan hinged on remaining as far removed from trouble as possible until the time came to reveal herself.
The perfect opportunity she’d spent over a month planning for.
Plotting every eventuality down to its most minute details until she was certain she could not fail.
It really paid to be a cop.
Still, she couldn’t resist trailing after Sutton, wondering where she was going and why she wasn’t immediately returning to Lane’s side.
If it was Addie, she would never leave him.
That was merely one of the reasons why Sutton didn’t deserve him.
It had given Addie a generous thrill when Sutton had gotten up and left not long after her arrival, as though she couldn’t bear to witness them together.
The concourse level of the stadium was a giant oval that traced the outline of the field itself, allowing event attendees to walk in a loop without stopping.
Of course, some parts were busier than others, and when they reached a stretch with no one around, Addie saw an opportunity to toy with Sutton.
Her body hummed with energy at the idea of hurting the other woman, but she stopped, slipping into the entrance of a women’s bathroom, blocking Sutton’s view of her.
And not a moment too soon, either, as Sutton stalled and glanced over shoulder, as if sensing she was being followed.
Sutton even went so far as to take a step in Addie’s direction before pausing, shaking her head as if tossing away the strange sensation of being watched, and proceeded in the other direction.
Addie crept out from her hiding place and followed.
In the early days of her career, when she’d been a regular old state trooper before joining the FBI, Addie had spent a lot of time at this stadium providing game day security.
That was, of course, before she’d risen in the ranks.
They handed out gameday jobs to the lower rungs of the power structure, putting rookies on what was essentially babysitting duty, not giving them a shot at meatier cases until they proved themselves.
Addie hadn’t minded, though. She enjoyed football, and the free food and gameday atmosphere were nice perks.
Thanks to all the time spent here, she’d become incredibly familiar with the layout, with all of its nooks and crannies.
There were so many blind spots along this concourse, and so many unused storage closets. It wouldn’t take much to sneak up on Sutton and easily knock her out before shoving her into one of those spaces. The corridor around them was abandoned. No one would see her or even guess it was her.
Well, no one except Lane. Her man was an incredible cop, and it wouldn’t take long for him to put the pieces together.
But Addie couldn’t risk it.
In that moment, Addie wanted so badly to end her, to kill Sutton and be done with it.
But death was the easy way out, and nothing about this would be easy for Sutton Rausch.
Her downfall would be a slow and methodical dismantling of everything she cares about, until she had nothing left to cling to but her misery.
Only then would Addie offer her the sweet relief of death.
Maybe.
She hadn’t quite decided yet.
She continued to trail after Sutton, ducking into hiding spaces when the other woman would turn to check behind her.
Addie was impressed by Sutton’s sixth sense for knowing when she was being tailed, but she also relished in the knowledge that Addie was better than her in every way.
That Sutton wouldn’t be able to do anything about it.
When they completed the loop of the concourse and Sutton stopped near the stairs to her seat with the Lawless family, pressing her back against it and closing her eyes, Addie took that as her cue to leave.
Whistling a jaunty tune, she walked out of the stadium, prepared to wait until the right moment to execute the next phase of her plan.