Chapter 47
Forty-Seven
“MY DARLING,” Dalton said, when Miquel had escorted her to Dalton’s front door. “You look exquisite.”
Bristol spun around. “The dress is exquisite.”
“I’m so glad you like it.” He held out his hand, and she slipped hers into it.
“I love it.”
Jazz music wafted through the cracked door. She crinkled her nose. “My surprise?” she asked, leaning past his shoulder.
Men and women in elegant attire flooded the space.
“It’s a welcome home party.” Dalton smiled.
How could his smile look so genuine? It was like the man had two lives, or two different personalities.
“Come in, my dear.” He led her inside.
Everyone’s gazes shifted to her—the guests and Dalton’s staff. . . . Many of whom she recognized from the restaurant. If she could just speak with them. She hoped the FBI would do something to help them when the raid came.
“This is lovely. You shouldn’t have.”
“Anything for you, my love. Shall we dance?”
“I’d love to, but I need to use the ladies’ room,” she whispered.
“Of course. I think the downstairs ones are occupied. Go use mine.”
“Thank you.” She pressed a kiss to his cheek and tried not to be sick.
He smiled. “Hurry, my love.”
Oh, she’d be hurrying.
Taking the stairs nearly two at a time in heels, she miraculously made it up without twisting her ankle or falling on her bum. Anything to get this over with. She couldn’t stand another minute in this house or in Dalton Shaw’s arms.
Closing his bedroom door behind her, she locked it and hurried for his secret office.
Moving straight for the safe, she slipped a pair of gloves out of her clutch and set to work. It’d been a while since she’d broken into one, but she hoped it was like riding a bike—the skills would come right back. And the saying proved true. She had it open in under a minute.
Seeing the contents, she smiled. The ledger and the cash.
The cash going into evidence was a waste, but it was nothing compared to what she’d taken for the ladies.
She’d already worked with the bank in the Caymans to have all the money transferred into a fund for them with explicit instructions on how it would work, even if something should happen to her.
She quickly flipped through the ledger, curious if she could learn more about the man above Dalton. She found it in the Vegas transactions, noted with the town’s name along with E. M.
It couldn’t be. She swallowed. Not Elliott Maxwell. Please, no. Let it be anyone but Big Max.
She relocked the safe and called the team in. “I’ve got the ledger.”
“Where’d you find it?” Baxter asked in his grumpy tone.
“Sitting on a desk in his bedroom.”
“On a desk.”
“Yes, sir. It’s just sitting there.” At least that’s where it was now, and there was nothing to say otherwise. Aubry would want to ask her more about it later, but unfortunately, there wouldn’t be a later for them.
Sounds of the FBI raid roared below. She decided to remain upstairs until the commotion settled, which she hoped would mean Dalton had been arrested and was in the back of one of the cars.
Miquel too. While she waited, she set up an Uber to take her back to her apartment and her car.
Not that she wanted to be anywhere near that place. She was done with it.
Taking a steadying breath, she headed downstairs and smiled at Aubry as she caught sight of him standing over Dalton.
“You okay?” Aubry asked.
“Fine. Just waited for the commotion to end.”
“Smart choice.”
Dalton looked up at her from the chair he sat in, arms behind his back, his wrists in cuffs. “Don’t tell me you did this, Bri?” Disappointment mixed with fury filled his gaze.
She remained silent.
“Why?” he asked. “I thought we cared about each other.”
“I did, until I learned you traffic women and kill them.”
“The side door.” He cussed. “I knew I locked it.”
“When I overheard you, I—”
“You joined with the FBI to take me down.”
“Something like that.” She hadn’t sought out the FBI, but no sense going into the particulars.
“You could have just come to me.”
“You’d just ordered a woman killed. I had no idea how you’d respond to me.”
“I’d never have harmed you then.”
Which meant he’d take her out now, if he could.
“Interesting,” Aubry said. “He really did care.”
How was that possible? But it mattered not. Dalton was a killer, sex trafficker, and drug dealer.
“The ledger is on the desk in a hidden room upstairs.”
“And the cash?” Baxter asked, clearly not even caring a secret room existed. He just wanted the money.
“There’s a safe. It’s gotta be in there.”
Baxter smiled at Dalton. “Looks like you’re losing money right and left today.”
Dalton narrowed his eyes and wriggled in his cuffs. “What are you talking about?”
“Our financial guys checked your accounts, and they found the one in the Caymans drained.”
“You’re lying.”
“No. Said it all went to an account just one number off, but that’s been drained too and appears to be untraceable.”
Both Dalton’s and Aubry’s gazes fell on her.
“Well, considering I kept my end of the bargain,” she said, lifting her clutch, “I’ll keep yours and set myself free. Have a good night, boys.”
Dalton gave a sardonic laugh, yelling behind her. “You’re no better than me. You think you can start over, find a new life, but women like you don’t change. Once a con, always a con. And there’s not a god in heaven who would forgive you.”
She slipped out the front door, fighting back the tears threatening to fall. That truth slammed her hard. Was there really no hope?
“I know what you did, and you’re a dead woman,” Dalton hollered into the night.
“Hold up,” Aubry said behind her.
She took a stiff breath and turned to face him.
“Thank you,” he said, holding up the ledger in the evidence bag. “I skimmed it, and it’s exactly what we need.”
She swallowed, guilt sifting through her. “I’m glad.”
His brows furrowed. “You okay?”
“Yeah. Just a lot rattling around in my mind.”
“Anything I can help you with?”
“No, but thank you.” Scanning the space, she found they were alone. She lifted on her tiptoes and gave him a kiss on the cheek. She longed to spend more time with him, but she needed to work on herself first. And deep down, God was wrestling with her heart. “I’m going to go.”
“Back to your apartment?”
“Just to get my car.” Then where she didn’t know.
“Good idea to stay away from your apartment for a while. Dalton and Miquel are in custody, but I fear Dalton has a long reach.”
She tried not to think about it. “Will do.”
“You’ll be safe. Any sign of trouble, you call me.” He handed her his card. “I’ve got you.”
“Thanks. ‘I’ll see you when I see you.’” She’d always loved that line from one of her favorite movies.
“I hope so,” he said.
So did she, but she was living in a fantasy. Good men like Aubry didn’t end up with women like her. She cringed. Was Dalton right? Was she really the same as him?
The Uber driver pulled up, and she strolled toward the vehicle. Once inside, she kicked her shoes off. They were beautiful but killing her feet.
When the driver dropped her off in front of the apartment building, she didn’t even bother to go inside. She’d been on the run her entire life. There wasn’t anything up there that she couldn’t live without. Her go bag was already in the trunk of her car, and that was all she needed.
She climbed into her VW and turned the ignition. Where to, Lord?
She needed a lot of help and guidance to understand what was happening—her prayers to a God she hadn’t believed in until now, the sense of direction He was giving her.
She shifted the car into drive and pulled out, fear sifting through her now that was all over.
Dalton would kill her if he could. He was going to prison for a long time, but there was nothing stopping him from sending someone after her.
Or E. M. If she read the ledger right, Dalton worked for him or at the very least paid him a percentage of all his sales, disgusting as the word was when it came to selling women.
They needed help. Shelter. A way out. She’d made the right call, giving the money to them rather than letting the FBI find it in the Caymans account.
But Dalton knew, and as evil as he’d turned out to be, he wouldn’t let it lie.
She banked right with no idea of where to go—everything roaring through her mind at once. “Where do I go?”
She sensed God whispering where.
She glanced at her purse, knowing every inch of that worn photograph by heart. That couldn’t be right. Yet He whispered again.
Lord, that’s ridiculous. I can’t go there.
She swallowed. She didn’t have any other place to go. At least not for change and help—if they’d even give it.
Hot tears streamed down her face. How could she face them? And why was God talking to her if He could never forgive her?
Snow unexpectedly fell, the cold fogging up the windows. She turned her wipers on. Swish. Swish. Swish. They helped with each pass, but then the windshield immediately fogged up again. Great. Like she wasn’t already having trouble seeing the road through her tears.
What had she been thinking? She banged the steering wheel. She should have checked to make sure Dalton was gone before she went downstairs. Now he knew she’d turned him in, and everything in her said he’d hold true to his promise.
But his other comments sliced even deeper. Was she bound to be a con woman the rest of her life? Couldn’t she change? Aubry’s words about staying on a good path warred with Dalton’s words. Maybe Dalton was right, and she was beyond saving.
Could God forgive her or not?
Tears continued to stream down her cold face in warm rivulets. All she wanted was to go back to Aubry and embrace him without letting go.
She stopped at the edge of the driveway God had brought her to, her body trembling. Taking a deep breath and releasing it, she pressed the gas pedal. Please, Lord, grant me grace. I’m terrified.