Deadly Little Lies Read Online Free PDF Page B

“Now,” he said cheerfully, “where is your cell phone?”
    He dumped her bag on the floor and took her driver’s license and the lone credit card in her wallet. As an afterthought, he pocketed the hundred dollars he found there as well. Why not? If the cops thought it a robbery gone bad, all the better.
    â€œAh, yes, you were talking to me just before you answered the door, weren’t you?” Before he retraced his steps to the back door, he turned off the camera. He moved quickly, knowing there might be an alarm on the cameras. If one shut down, it could either trigger a backup or the cops. The cops wouldn’t be as much a problem as the backup camera.
    Then again, he was well known to be dead already, so it wasn’t that much of a problem either way.
    He checked his watch. Dav and Carrie would be taken by now. It was all going as he’d planned. He grinned, knowing what awaited his idiot brother.
    There, on a pedestal by the locked rear door, was her phone. Excellent. The number she’d used for him was a throwaway phone, but he took no chances. With the phone in his pocket, he used a nearby broom to reach the camera, turn its seeking eye toward the wall. A quick trip back to the office where he jumped the security disk back to just before he came in, set the camera back on and left the building locked up nice and tight. Within minutes, all evidence of him would be taped over and he would be the ghost that killed Inez.
    He chuckled at his cleverness and as he walked toward his parked car, he gave the hundred to several bums, a twenty at a time. He stopped a scruffy-looking messenger and handed him the credit card.
    â€œHey, dude, use this for me, would you? My girlfriend stole it from me, bought a few things, then gave it back. I was about to report it stolen, but there’s got to be a bunch more on it or I can’t press charges on her.” Total bullshit, of course, but the kid wouldn’t know that. “Go buy some gas or something. You got an hour before I report it missing.” When the boy’s eyes turned sly, he knew he’d picked a winner.
    The boy snatched the card and sped off. Two blocks later, Niko tossed her driver’s license into the gutter. He took a last look at her picture, and smiled.
    â€œA good picture. What a surprise,” he told her photo. “Usually look like mug shots. Or worse.”
    He unlocked the car and as he drove away, he decided it really was too bad she’d been so smart.

Chapter 3
    Jurgens disconnected the call, closing the cell phone with a snap of his wrist and a silent snarl. It hadn’t been a pleasant conversation. Hardened as he was from years in his profession, he was irritated at the level of venom he’d sensed over his refusal. His annoyance made him more thorough about the methodical destruction of the phone. The largest piece when he was done could have been hidden under a dime.
    He had turned down the contract on Davros Gianikopolis, citing both other work and a conflict of interest. He didn’t go into details, wouldn’t. No questions had been asked.
    Frowning, he pondered the repercussions.
    â€œMy love,” Caroline said, gliding into the brightly lit room, her robe a lush flow of rose silk over her skin. “Come to bed.” She came up behind his chair and automatically began to massage his shoulders, easing the tension there with her touch alone.
    He turned his face to kiss the hand that eased him so.
    â€œI made the call,” he said, knowing she would understand.
    â€œI see.” Her hands never stilled, though he felt the brief hesitation, understood it. “What was your decision?”
    â€œI declined.”
    Her fingers stilled, and then squeezed before resuming their relaxing strokes. “Good.”
    They stayed connected there, for long silent moments, both thinking their own thoughts as Caroline continued to rub his shoulders, releasing the tension that