Page 87 of Filthy Little Lies

“You’ll call me if you see her,” he demands.

“Why would I do that? If she got away from Chicago, she could stay away, and then you guys could just leave her alone.” There’s an odd tone to her voice, but I can’t read her the way Lucian can.

“You’ll call me if you hear from her because if you don’t, I’ll come for a visit, and we can start our discussion again.”

“Ugh! You’re such an ass. If I hear from her, I’ll tell her to call Gabriel. That’s the best I can do. I have to go. Don’t call me again.” The line goes dead, and Lucian gives a victorious smirk.

“What? What just happened? Why do you look so proud of yourself? She didn’t tell us anything.” Roman waves at the phone on the desk.

“She’s lying through her teeth. Savvy was there, but probably isn’t anymore.” Lucian picks up his phone and pockets it. “She kept answering with questions, it’s a defense measure. Your woman was definitely there.”

“We’ll go⁠—”

“I wouldn’t bother. If she’s still there, which I doubt, she’ll leave now that we’re on to it. She probably left already anyway, especially if you were calling Cassie.” Lucian sinks into a chair.

“Gabriel.” Antonio rushes through the door. “The credit card was used to buy plane tickets.”

Finally a break. “To where?”

His face falls. “Three different tickets. All from St. Louis, all yesterday. One to New York, one to LA, and one to Boston.”

If my blood wasn’t boiling, I might be impressed by her.

“You said yesterday. We’ll find out which plane she actually boarded.”

Antonio frowns again. “I already did that. I had Sammy tap in and find out which of her passes were scanned.”

“And?” I’m going to yank my hair out of my head if this continues much longer.

“All three were scanned.”

CHAPTER 26

Savvy

A hand rests on my bare shoulder, making me jump.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you.” The elderly woman standing next to me says. “But I think they’re calling your order.”

“Sarah!” The barista shouts out, tapping her manicured fingernails on the lid of my iced-caramel latte.

“Oh. Yes, thank you.” I push on a smile and quickly grab my coffee. After doing a quick check of the people outside, I head out of the corner coffee shop and into the warm southern sun.

I check my phone for the time and realize I’m going to be late for work if I don’t hurry up. Normally, I wouldn’t have wasted time stopping for coffee, but it’s going to be a long shift at the bookshop and sleep hasn’t been my best friend this last month.

At first every sound in the night woke me up. The neighbor taking out his trash, or a dog barking from blocks away. Every noise seemed to echo in my mind. But it’s been four weeks, and no sign of Gabriel or any of his men.

I should be able to relax. Except I can’t. And it has less and less to do with being afraid that he’s going to show up, and more about how much he’s infested my thoughts.

“Hey, Sarah.” Billy, the morning clerk, waves as I enter the small book boutique where I’ve taken a part-time job. “Lilly is in the back. We got a shipment in, so she’s probably going to have you doing inventory and stocking today.”

“Okay.” I take a sip of my latte. There isn’t enough caffeine in the world to keep me awake today, but I have an eight-hour shift to get through, so I get into gear.

Lilly, the shop owner, set me up in the back room with a computer and scanner to get the inventory checked in before I shelve the newest release in a serial killer series. It takes me an hour to get them all scanned, and then I move out to the thriller section to make room for the new books.

Somewhere between moving books around Cassie has sent three text messages.

Settled in yet?