Dangerous Deceptions: A Christian Romantic Suspense Boxed Set Collection

by Lisa Harris

  “I’ll tell him you stopped by.” Letty shifted her head side-to-side, all attitude. Like Hollis was gum on the bottom of her shoe. “I’m sure he’ll call you.”

  “Not good enough,” Hollis repeated.

  Hollis had never thrown her weight around. It wasn’t like she had any authority. Unless it was with people who worked for Frankie. He’d let her run things for a while. Athens sat behind the scenes, Frankie pulled the strings, and Hollis was the puppet.

  It was time to cut herself free.

  “Get him on the phone.” She stuck out one foot. “I’ll wait. After all, the diner just burned down. There are things to talk about. Like insurance, and what we’re going to do moving forward.”

  That was a good line. But it made her wonder...that is, until her thoughts were cut off by the rattling of the front door handle. Basuto.

  In all the bluster she had, there was a kernel of truth. If Athens was involved, then he could be the one behind the fire. Or behind the flash drive that was supposed to implicate her. What if he was this West person—or even the mastermind of the whole persona.

  She still wasn’t sure West was a real person. Or even just one person.

  Maybe it was a group. Why not create a persona for the police to hunt while the real people did whatever they wanted while no one was looking for them? Athens could have planned for her to go to jail. The police would stop looking for “West,” and he would be able to get the insurance money from the diner fire.

  Basuto knocked on the glass door. “Open up right now.”

  Because Letty looked like she was about to start a fight? Hollis was probably the one who would wind up getting arrested. And all because Athens might be West. He wasn’t even here to answer for himself.

  Letty moved.

  Hollis braced, but the woman strode past her and went to let the sergeant in.

  “This woman is disturbing our customers.”

  “I just want to leave a note,” Hollis told him.

  The rough guy huffed under his breath. She twisted to glare at him. Why did Athens have a thug here, anyway? This guy looked like someone Will might have met undercover, and he was here when Athens wasn’t. A customer, or a hire? Not restaurant staff, given he was far from clean. He was more like a mercenary.

  She would know, considering she’d met several bad guys for hire the past few days. The kind of man who might’ve tried to burn down the diner with Will inside. All to hurt a good guy, a federal agent.

  This rough man was exactly the kind of guy her mother would see as strong, though he was nowhere near a nice guy. Not like Will.

  Hollis wasn’t like Will either. She was stained with her mother’s world, and with her connections to all of these people. Sergeant Basuto was on Will’s side of that fence. Hollis didn’t like where she was.

  Which was exactly why she’d planned to leave town.

  Why stay here, and be this person, when she could start over somewhere else? She could be clean. Like Will. Do the right thing and make the right choices, because it was who she was and not because it was the only way to feel good about her life and who they’d made her to be.

  “Hollis, let’s go talk about this.” Basuto motioned for her to move aside with him.

  “Liam Athens might’ve destroyed my entire life. I should have the chance to ask him if it’s true.”

  “This is a police investigation, girl.” Basuto at least appeared to have some compassion. Unlike anyone else in her life. “The truth will come out. But not with you in the middle of it.”

  “I can’t get out of the middle of it. They won’t let me.” He had to understand.

  She wanted to pray that he would, but this was hardly the time to bend a knee and bow her head—even proverbially.

  “Let’s talk.”

  Hollis was about to explain why she was done with all the craziness when the door opened again. She spotted movement behind Basuto. By the time she realized what was happening, the sergeant’s body jerked, and he slumped to the floor.

  Behind him stood her mother.

  Her mother turned to her, swung the gun around and aimed over her shoulder.

  Hollis said, “No—”

  The gun fired. A blinding flash, a deafening shot, like a firework going off right in her face. She spun, ears ringing, and saw the thug on the ground directly behind her with a red, wet stain on his chest. He was dead.

  “You killed him!” Hollis’s outcry was drowned out by Letty screaming.

  Sharleen swung the gun around. She didn’t fire again, just wacked the waitress in the face with the gun. Letty hit the floor.

  “What are you doing?” Hollis didn’t even know where to start.

  Sharleen pulled Basuto’s gun from his holster and tossed it toward her. Hollis caught it on a reflex, then stared down at the weapon in her hands. “What are you—”

  “All right everyone!” Her mom yelled the words loudly enough so that every patron in the restaurant could hear. Thankfully the place wasn’t overly full. Sharleen called out, “Cell phones and wallets on the table in front of you. No one calls the cops, and no one moves.”

  An older man wearing a Vietnam vest stood.

  Sharleen pointed her gun at the ceiling and fired. “No one moves. Do as I say, and no one gets hurt.”

  The man sat back down, beside his wife. Two kids sat across from them. Grandchildren?

  Hollis shook her head. “What are you doing?” There were innocent people here who could get hurt.

  “Frankie is in the car. Get the money out of the register, and let’s go.”

  She just stood there, staring at her mom. Unable to believe what was unfolding. “You killed a guy.”

  “If you knew him, you’d know that’s no loss.” She gave Hollis a look, like she should know that. “Get the money and all their wallets, and let’s go.” When Hollis didn’t move, she said, “Chop chop. Cops will be here soon.”

  Sharleen walked up and down the aisles, collecting people’s wallets and shoving them into some woman’s purse she had confiscated moments earlier. Hollis didn’t know what to think. Her mom was here, Athens wasn’t. A man was dead, and the sergeant had been knocked out. Hollis didn’t want to be an accomplice to armed robbery.

  She needed to subdue her mom, but didn’t want to get into a gunfight with her own mother. Not with the added risk that an innocent bystander might get hurt. “Why are you robbing this place?”

  “To get you back. Obviously.”

  “I don’t want to be part of this.” She looked at Basuto. He was out cold, a sheen of blood in his hair.

  “You’ve got no choice. So, get the money and make this look good. Or do you want me to hand you over to the cops again?”

  Hollis pressed her lips together.

  “Athens deserves this.”

  “These people don’t.” There had to be another way to do…whatever her mom was trying to do. “Let’s just go.”

  “Get the money, Hollis. Are you stupid? Because if you wanna be, then I’ll shoot you myself.”

  Someone gasped.

  Neither Hollis nor her mother broke their locked gazes to look where the sound came from. You’d really shoot me? The look in her own mom’s eyes said very clearly, yes. She should have been surprised. Maybe she was, in part, since she’d never thought her mom might kill her. Or that she’d even want to.

  “Just go.”

  Hollis didn’t know who that was, but she agreed. “They’re right, Mom. Let’s go.”

  “Get the money from the register.” Her mom shoved past her to look out the front window.

  Was she really supposed to make herself an accomplice? She would cross a new line, stealing. She didn’t want to be even an accessory.

  Sharleen turned back to her, lifted her gun, and put a bullet in the artwork behind Hollis. She flinched. The squeal was involuntary. She dropped Basuto’s gun.

  “Why are you doing this?” Hollis had to ask. She needed to know. Liam Athens wasn’t even here, an
d her mom was determined to stick it to him. To hurt a cop, and shoot a man. Hollis even felt bad that Letty had been hurt. Though she didn’t have any reason to feel that way.

  She was supposed to be fixing this, and now it was worse. Instead of getting answers to prove she had nothing to do with West, she was now part of an armed robbery? Her life was officially out of control.

  “Let’s go. Now.” Her mom looked like she really wanted to shoot Hollis. A look she’d seen before, only this time, Sharleen held a gun pointed at her. Finger on the trigger.

  Hollis turned the key in the register and the drawer slid open. She grabbed a handful of the largest bills and strode to her mom. “You go. I’m right behind you.”

  Sharleen would step outside.

  Hollis would throw the deadbolt and put the money back.

  “No way.” Her mom grabbed her arm. “I came in here for you. Now you’re coming out with me.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Will pulled up beside Basuto’s squad car. Another car was parked in the lot with the engine running. The same car they were seen taking off in from Sharleen’s house. Frankie sat in the front seat.

  The second he saw Will, Frankie hit the gas and pulled out.

  Will headed for the front door of the restaurant. Six feet from the door, it was pushed open. “Hollis.”

  He took in the expression on her face, then saw the wad of cash in her hand.

  “What are—”

  “Back up!” The woman behind her screamed the words at him.

  Hollis was shoved forward. Her mother was right behind her, standing in the open doorway. As though she couldn’t decide whether to come outside or retreat back into the restaurant.

  Will pulled his gun and aimed it. He’d shoot Hollis, or possibly someone else inside the restaurant in his attempt to hit Sharleen. But he was ready. Just in case. “What are you up to, Sharleen?”

  Hollis was shoved forward again and this time let out a small whimper.

  “She’s already hurt enough. Just let Hollis go.”

  Sharleen sneered. “I do what I want with my own daughter.”

  “Yeah, that’s not how this works.” While his heart squeezed in his chest, he said, “Let her go, Sharleen. She’s been through enough.”

  “I have.” Hollis spoke through gritted teeth. “Just let go of me, Mom. Enough already.”

  “No.”

  Will backed up. “Step out of the restaurant, Sharleen. Whatever you’re trying to do is over.”

  “I’m trying to save my daughter.”

  Will shook his head. He figured this was a case of, ‘I brought you into the world, I can take you out.’ Except this woman was just unhinged enough to take that literally. And she had the gun to back up her threat.

  Hollis looked incredulous. He didn’t blame her. Sharleen was trying to save her by holding her against her will and threatening to kill her? This hardly made sense.

  He said, “This isn’t the way to do it. Put your gun down, Sharleen. I’ll lower mine, and together we’ll figure this out.”

  She jerked Hollis and pulled her backward through the door. Sharleen yelled, “Get back! All of you, get back!”

  She stumbled. So did Hollis. Someone lay on the floor. Basuto.

  Sharleen yelled, “Lock the door!”

  Before it could swing shut and Sharleen could get her wish, Will stuck his foot between the door and the frame. He pulled the door open and headed inside.

  Someone said, “Now there’s three of them!”

  A couple of kids were crying.

  Will yelled, “I’m FBI. Sharleen, put the gun down. Now.” He kept aim on her as she dragged Hollis back toward the hall.

  What she didn’t do, was put her gun down.

  Before she disappeared, Will crouched quickly and pressed two fingers to Basuto’s neck. After finding a faint pulse, he straightened and continued moving with them. Sharleen was retreating.

  He wasn’t willing to let Hollis out of his sight. It hadn’t worked well before, and he had a feeling this time would be no different.

  “Mom, don’t do this.”

  “I’ll kill you.” Sharleen had to have a grip on the back of Hollis’s jacket, or her belt. She jerked Hollis, who let out a cry.

  “You’re hurting me. But of course, you don’t care about that at all, do you? You only care about yourself.”

  “Shows what you know. I wouldn’t be doing this if not for you.”

  “Like it’s my fault?” Hollis asked.

  Her question made Will wonder if she was stalling her mom long enough to give backup more time to get here. And while he was pretty sure they weren’t all that far behind him, Will couldn’t risk waiting for Eric or the Last Chance Police to show up.

  He had to do this himself. The way he knew he had to finish this case if he ever hoped to have the chance to talk with Hollis about how he felt. Now that knowing was far stronger, and he’d doubled down on his resolve. He knew, here and now, that Sharleen was a serious risk. If he wanted that chance with Hollis, this was how he’d get it. By sticking with her and saving her life.

  “There’s no reason to hurt her.” Will was prepared to turn the tables and stall her as well. She didn’t need to leave, and there was no way he would allow her to go anywhere with Hollis. “Let Hollis go. You leave, and I’ll tell the Last Chance Police you got away.”

  Hollis blinked at him. Her face was awash with fear, the visceral knowing that things were bad. Seriously bad.

  Did she believe her mom might actually pull the trigger and try to kill her? Or was she simply scared for Will’s life? Perhaps the fear he was seeing on her face was actually for him. Because she cared, and even though he turned out to be someone very different than Phil, the man she’d thought she was dating this whole time. She still didn’t want to see him get hurt.

  Sharleen huffed. “All this is for Hollis.” She reached around and snatched the cash out of Hollis’s hand, then stuck the wad of bills in her back pocket.

  Hollis turned in the same direction as her mom’s retreating hand and shoved at her mom with the flat of her good hand. Her mom slammed the gun into the back of her shoulder. Hollis faced Will again, and he could see the pain in her eyes. “Why are you doing this? Just leave me alone.”

  He’d heard that from her before. This time, like previously, his heart squeezed in his chest. He felt her pain. “Let her go.” The words cracked on their way out. Will felt the gathering tears burn before they blurred his vision. “I will shoot you. Just let her go.”

  Before Sharleen could answer, the door at the end of the hall opened. Liam Athens walked in, a big man with a sturdy build and dressed in a suit and tie. Will thought he looked out of place in a small mountain town.

  “What’s going on?” He glanced between Sharleen and her gun, and Will, holding his outright.

  Sharleen sneered. “This is all your fault! Get out of the way.”

  “Are you kidnapping your own daughter?” Athens looked at her like she was so far beneath him, that he was baffled she’d even made it this far in life. “What is wrong with you, Sharleen?”

  “Put the gun down,” Will said. “Before anyone else gets hurt.” He motioned for Athens to move out of the way, past the two women, so that he could take shelter behind Will. Out of the line of fire.

  Sharleen waved her gun from Will, and then back to Athens.

  Tears rolled down Hollis’s cheeks. “Let’s just go, Mom. You don’t have to do this.” Despite her words, she looked at Will. For hope? Seemed like she thought he would save her, regardless of whether she went with her mom or not.

  “She’s not going with you.” Athens said, “Let her go, Sharleen. This is beyond ridiculous.” When she didn’t move, he said, “I was told you were robbing me. Now you’re kidnapping. You should give up. In minutes, there will be a sea of cops right outside that door.” He pointed a thick, long finger at the exit. “Just waiting to kill you the second you step out. Do you think they’ll let you hurt
Hollis?”

  The woman herself seemed surprised Athens had said that.

  Sharleen screamed. “You think I’m the one who’s gonna hurt her? I’m saving her from you.” She wailed every word, loud and high pitched, so it was hard to even discern enough of what came out of her mouth to understand what she was saying.

  “Sharleen, let her go.” Will gritted his teeth.

  “Mom, do as he says.”

  “Sharleen, you’re doing this to yourself.” Athens sounded so high-and-mighty, along with his obvious disappointment.

  His stature, alongside Hollis’s, made Will pause. They were both taller than average and stocky. He couldn’t study their features, but there was something about the tone of Athens’s voice that reminded him of Hollis’s alto tone.

  “Is Athens your father?”

  Hollis gasped. Sharleen whirled around. She squeezed the trigger of her gun and a round hit the wall, high above and to the side of his head.

  Will flinched.

  Athens said, “Enough.” The restaurant owner tackled Sharleen against the wall. She screamed. Hollis cried out, high and full of pain.

  Two seconds later, a gun went off.

  Athens backed up and slumped to the ground, one hand clutching his shoulder. Blood seeped through his fingers. He called Sharleen a vulgar name.

  She screamed, “I’ll kill you!”

  Will couldn’t take her down. He didn’t have even an inch of a clean shot in this tight hallway. And no way would he risk hitting Hollis.

  He’d have to wrestle the gun away from Sharleen—a move that meant Athens took a bullet to the shoulder. “Let her go, Sharleen.”

  “Kill her!” Athens yelled.

  Hollis cried. “No! All of you, stop!” She tried to twist around to her mom, but Sharleen wouldn’t let go of her broken arm. “Don’t do this, Mom. You’re hurting me. Just let me go.”

  Her mom’s grip on her meant Will couldn’t pull her from her mom’s clench without seriously hurting her. So that kind of tug-o-war was ruled out.

  Think. He had to take her mom down. God, I need You. Was that what Conroy had meant, about giving it to Him? Will had been to church a few times as a kid. He’d even gone to Bible camp once at fifteen. He’d learned more about girls than Jesus, if he was honest. But some of it had stuck.