One of the bodyguards patted Liam down. Ava was already on her way over by the time he was done. “So?” The last she’d heard about Rick was that Liam was going to visit his apartment. She was asking for an update.
“What’s going on? Where is everyone?”
“Rick was supposed to work tonight. He didn’t show up, so no game,” she said, and Liam noticed, as he often did, the subtle inflections of the French she’d spoken as a child. She repeated the one-word question. “So?”
“He wasn’t there.”
“I’m not surprised.”
Liam glanced at the bodyguards, then gestured to the door. “Can we talk privately?”
“Sure.”
“I’m not alone,” Liam said as he opened the door. “Turns out there’s someone else looking for Rick.” Even as he spoke, Chris and Arkin became visible through the widening crack in the door.
One of the bodyguards jumped to attention. “It’s fine,” Ava told him. She stepped out of the room, closing the door behind her. The four instinctively moved deeper into the dark space to be sure they wouldn’t be overheard. They huddled close to a table covered with sketches of something that looked to be an atrium.
Liam told Ava about Alice’s abduction and the thefts Rick had perpetrated against him and Chris. “That’s not the worst of it, though. I think he killed Elise. I’m not sure how, but he seems to be at the center of all of this, and we need to find him.”
“I don’t know how I can help,” Ava said. “I sent the two men in there to see Eduardo after we talked. Apparently Rick made a point of meeting him one night after he left here and paid him to get into my place as a dealer. Rick told him it would just be for a few weeks, said when he was done Eduardo could have the job back. Easy money. Nobody had to know. But Eduardo doesn’t know how to get in touch with him. Rick was always the one to make contact.”
Liam could hardly believe that Eduardo came right out and said all that, so he asked.
Ava shrugged, as if to say No, he didn’t, and Liam could fill in the blanks.
“But Rick’s been here for months,” Liam said.
“He kept paying Eduardo to stay on longer.”
“Do you know why?”
“Eduardo never found out. It sounds like you might have pieced some of that together though.”
Liam wasn’t so sure about that. He had a good idea of what had happened lately, but he didn’t know what Elise and Rick were doing at Ava’s to begin with. Maybe they were targeting her, working another con together, only that one went south. It would explain all the lies Elise had told. If she was working a con on Ava, she’d want to tell everyone the same story. Was that how Elise ended up dead? The con had gone south? Could be. Perhaps Rick got pissed because whatever he was up to was taking too long. Maybe that was even why Rick started writing stuff down about Liam in his notebook. Did he have other notebooks for other players?
The theory was falling apart again. It still didn’t sound right. At the moment, however, it didn’t matter. He’d come here with a plan and it was time he laid it out.
“My guess is Rick is on the run. I think there’s a way we can get him back here.”
Richard Hawthorne
Rick sped down the interstate in the rented car he’d used to abduct Alice and crossed the border into Indiana. He wasn’t sure whether Liam had made it to the airport and wasn’t going to risk running into a Delta employee who’d encountered another Rick Hawthorne tonight taking a flight to Belarus. His would leave from the Weir Cook Municipal Airport.
As he drove, he imagined two competing scenarios. Both made him happy.
In one, Chris had gotten ahold of Liam and done God-knows-what. Maybe killed him. Whatever it was, Rick was sure it hurt.
In another, Liam had run to the airport (because, even though Rick had called him demanding access to his accounts, where else did he have to go?) and gotten arrested when he tried to pass through security with a fake ID and a bogus ticket.
Either way, justice served.
His phone rang. It was Ava. He was supposed to be working tonight and she was probably wondering where he was. He put the phone on silent. It continued to vibrate until the call ended, but at least it wasn’t as annoying.
Ava called six more times over the next ten minutes. She wasn’t just wondering where he was, she was pissed. Rick didn’t care. His plan for the future was to find a nice girl in Belarus (or somewhere else without an extradition treaty), settle down, raise a family, maybe take some photos like those he’d seen in other people’s wallets. He’d never step foot in Ava’s again.
Then a text came in. Also Ava. He cared no more about it than he had the calls until he read it: Where would you like us to bury Susan Hawthorne?
Rick’s mouth went dry. Ava had found out who he was. That wouldn’t bother him if she hadn’t also found out about his mother. While he had enough money to pay for her care for the rest of her life, there was nothing he could do to protect her once he was out of the country.
But would Ava kill her? Probably not. She was likely pulling the same con on him he had on Alice. But “probably” was too big of a risk to take with the only family he had.
Rick pulled over to the side of the road and tried to decide what to do. There was only one choice. He had to find out what Ava wanted and what she knew. Perhaps he could resolve this problem with a phone call. He dialed her number.
“Rick?” Ava said when she answered.
“How did you find out?”
“I want to see you now.” She hung up.
So much for resolving the matter on the phone. Rick looked at the clock on the dashboard. It was almost one a.m. If he didn’t keep going, he’d miss the flight.
For several seconds, he sat completely still, trying to figure out what Ava wanted. (It had to be about more than skipping out on the game.) She could have known his real name for a long time, he reasoned. If Chris and Liam could figure it out, certainly she could. And she might have known about his mother for just as long. Perhaps she’d been holding onto the information for a situation where she needed the upper hand. Ava was friendly to all the players, but with him she’d always kept her distance. Assuming the same personality he had used when dealing cards, he’d made numerous attempts to forge a friendship, hoping to transcend the strict employer-employee relationship Ava insisted upon. Such friendships could be helpful when working a con no matter who the target was. But all of his attempts had been unsuccessful. Was it because she always knew he was lying to her? If that was the case, why would she keep him around?
Rick pounded his fists against the steering wheel and screamed with frustration. He got out of the car, slammed the door, and paced the highway. The scam shouldn’t have run this long. If Elise had done what she was supposed to, she’d still be alive and they’d both have gotten out of this thing rich and safe.
Cars whizzed past as little more than twin lights in the darkness.
Eventually Rick admitted to himself he wasn’t going to figure anything out hanging around on the side of the road and thought about going to the nursing home. He could take his mom out of there, get them a hotel room. But that would scare her. And what if she was still having a bad day? Could he even get her out at this hour?
That wasn’t an option. Besides, even if it was, what would he do after they got the hotel room? Set her up with a fake name as well? Take her with him to Belarus? That wasn’t a life for his mom. He loved her too much to put her through that.
He paced some more before accepting his only choice was to go see what Ava wanted. It was a hiccup. Nothing more. He got back in the car, turned around at the next exit, called the airline to reschedule the flight, and requested access to Ava’s using the same app Liam had.
The rest of the drive he made in silence. The only thought in his head was, I’m so close. I can talk my way out of this.
Richard Hawthorne
The lot was nearly deserted. Rick parked and crossed to the elevator, the sound
of his footfalls echoing around him, making him feel even more alone.
I am so close. Whatever Ava wants, I can talk my way out of this. I am so close.
Rick thought he heard something and spun around. There was no one there. Every fiber of his being told him he was making a mistake coming here. Every step toward the elevator was an act of sheer will and a testament to his love for his mother.
He pressed the button.
I am so close.
The doors opened with a ding. When Rick saw who was standing on the other side of them, the will to run could no longer be suppressed. It was too late. Chris and Arkin grabbed him, dragged him onto the elevator. Liam punched the code in and pressed the button for the ninth floor.
Chris grabbed Rick’s jaw, holding it still while he examined his face. “You didn’t just steal the ring. You’re the guy who helped Elise with that con all those years ago, aren’t you?” Then he punched Rick in the stomach.
Rick tried to double-over, but Chris and Arkin held him tight.
“Where’s the ring?” Chris demanded.
“Let’s get him upstairs,” Liam said.
Liam Parker
Ava had several rolls of packing tape in a supply closet. Chris and Arkin sat Rick down in one of the chairs that surrounded the poker table, and Liam used liberal amounts of tape to bind him to it.
Rick begged to be let go. That wasn’t going to happen.
“Do you think this is how Alice felt?” Liam said. “What about Elise? Do you think you are even half as scared as she was?”
Rick begged the men not to kill him. Then his eyes cut past them, and Liam glanced over his shoulder to see what he was looking at.
Ava was sitting in the same chair she always sat in, legs crossed, expression inscrutable. She was the only other person in the suite. At Liam’s request, she’d sent her bodyguards home. He didn’t want anybody here who wasn’t involved.
“Please, Ava,” Rick said. “I didn’t do anything to you. Don’t let them do this.”
“You brought this on yourself,” Ava said, without emotion.
Rick screamed for help, and Arkin punched him across the jaw hard enough to shut him up.
“Woo-hoo!” Arkin exclaimed. “Scream some more. I want to do that again.”
Rick had gotten the message.
By the time Liam finished binding Rick to the chair, he was practically mummified. Liam stepped back and admired his handiwork. It felt good seeing Rick like that.
“Where’s the ring?” Chris asked.
“What did we agree to?” Liam said to Chris. “First things first.” He turned back to Rick. “Tell us about Elise.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I want to know everything. Let’s start with what you two were up to when you paid Eduardo to get you a job here. That’s only fair because of where we are, isn’t it?”
Rick’s eyes grew wide and cut back to Ava. “I’m sorry, Ava. It was never about you. Please, don’t let them—”
Arkin punched Rick again, and Liam reached around behind his back and pulled Anita’s gun from the waistband of his jeans. He kept the barrel aimed at the ground. He didn’t want to accidently shoot Rick and was pretty sure the sight of the weapon alone would be enough to scare him into cooperating.
“You’re talking to us,” Liam said. “What were you two up to?”
Rick looked at the gun.
Liam could tell he was terrified. “Well?”
Rick licked his lips, took several slow breaths. “It wasn’t supposed to be complicated,” he said. “We knew you came here regularly, so it seemed like the best place to set up a meet. Elise likes meet-cutes. We’ve used them before for small stuff. But for something like this, I didn’t want to take a chance it might go wrong.”
That statement alone was enough to let Liam know he had been the target all along. It was upsetting, undercut the last shred of hope he had his relationship with Elise had been real, but it also explained her lies better than anything else might. She’d said she worked in advertising because he worked in advertising. She said she grew up in Oak Park because he grew up in Oak Park. Every lie had been about shielding her identity and creating parallels between their lives over which they could bond. But there was a lot more to know and Liam wanted to hear all of it, so he pressed forward with the next question to occur to him. “What are meet-cutes?”
“Like the movies,” Rick said. “Two people reach for the same flower in a flower shop. Their hands touch. Stuff like that.” He was making an effort not to look at Chris and, based on the story Chris had told earlier, Liam knew why.
Chris turned red, likely with a combination of anger and embarrassment, but he kept himself in check.
“I thought it would be better to give you two some time to get to know each other,” Rick continued. “I told her to let you make the first move.”
Liam flashed back to things Rick had said when dealing cards. He’d called Elise pretty when she wasn’t around. He’d said he’d heard she was single. They were subtly placed comments meant to get inside Liam’s head. They had worked too. The more Rick talked about Elise, the more Liam noticed her. It was all obvious in retrospect.
“Once you did, all she had to do was get into your condo, hook a USB stick up to your computer, and install some software. Simple, right?”
Liam nodded. Elise had been in his condo plenty of times. From the way the conversation was going, though, it sounded like she had never installed the software. Why not? He’d seen her on his computer before, usually playing Solitaire or surfing the web while he was in the shower. But he didn’t interrupt to ask. It seemed like the more Rick talked the more he wanted to, as if he somehow felt he was absolving himself by admitting to it all. And maybe that’s exactly what he thought, because the next thing he said was, “I’m sorry for Alice. It shouldn’t have gone that far. If Elise had tried to install the software sooner, everything would’ve been all right. It would’ve recorded your keystrokes, collecting all your login information for all your accounts, and allowed me to remote into your computer to transfer the money out without ever having to step foot inside your place.”
“What do you mean sooner?” Liam barked.
“Elise came by my apartment. She said she didn’t want to do it. She told me she’d started to care about you, and I told her if she didn’t do it I’d make sure you found out who she really was. So that’s what happened, right? You figured out she had installed the software and killed her over it.”
Liam couldn’t believe what he was hearing. There was so much information packed in that one statement it created a sort of emotional whiplash. Elise had cared about him. Beneath all the lies, there was something true in their relationship. Just as important—not only was Rick innocent of Elise’s murder, but he thought Liam had done it.
“After you killed her, I couldn’t let it go. We never planned to empty all your accounts. We were only going to take some of the money. A lot for us, a little for you. Then things changed. I wanted to punish you, and you deserved it. You’ll still pay. Even though it’s not the way I intended, the police will catch you sooner or later and you’ll do thirty to life in some small cell as someone’s bitch, I’m betting.”
“I didn’t kill Elise. I never saw her installing any software on my computer.”
Rick looked confused. “But I got an alert saying the software had been activated. Only before I could learn anything, it stopped transmitting data. You must have found out about it.”
“What reason would I have to lie to you now? It wasn’t me.”
Liam saw Rick’s face transform as the truth sank in. Then he said softly, “I couldn't believe you had the audacity to attend the funeral. Now I guess it makes sense.”
Liam remembered somebody standing at the edge of the cemetery. At the time, he’d thought it was the police, but it must have been Rick. Had he come to pay his respects too, only keeping his distance when he saw Liam at the gravesite? Then another thoug
ht occurred to him: Ryan Reyes had said Elise was seeing someone else—had he meant Rick?
Chris put his hands on his hips and paced back and forth. He was getting impatient. Arkin, however, appeared to be enjoying the show.
“Well, if she didn’t install the software on your computer, she must’ve installed it on someone’s,” Rick continued.
Maybe that was the someone who killed her, Liam thought. “Do you know who it might have been?”
Rick shook his head.
“Why me?”
“Hell if I know.”
“This was Elise’s idea?”
“No, this was my idea.” Liam could hear pride in Rick’s voice. “But it didn’t start that way. Someone came to Elise and said they wanted you in jail for a while. Elise was hard up for cash, so she took their money. But I told her I had a better idea, and what could they do about it anyway if we changed the plan?”
Liam couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Who are you talking about?”
“I don’t know. I met them when Elise and I went to pick up the deposit. She thought it’d be a good idea to have someone with her. Man and a woman, that’s all I can tell you. Well, that, and the man was tall, if that’s worth anything to you. Really tall. Blond hair, balding a little on top.”
Rick was describing David.
“Maybe they killed Elise.”
“That’s not possible,” Liam said and took a step back as if the news itself had pushed him away.
Liam walked across the room, struggling to make sense of the information and moving closer to Ava without realizing it. “No, no, no,” he mumbled to himself, shaking his head.
When he was within range, Ava reached out and gently grabbed his arm. “Liam.”
He looked at her.
“Most people wouldn’t think I run this poker game, would they?”
He got the message. As hard as it was to hear, there wasn’t any point in denying what Rick had said. He was only telling Liam what he’d seen. David had tried to frame him and put him in jail. Liam repeated that fact to himself until it started to sink in.
A Reagan Keeter Box Set: Three page-turning thrillers that will leave you wondering who you can trust Page 43