A Reagan Keeter Box Set: Three page-turning thrillers that will leave you wondering who you can trus by Reagan Keeter (fiction novels to read txt) 📗

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