The Reveal Read Online Free PDF

intending to slip into the nearest alley and backtrack to the hotel when another car, this one long, sleek and black, cruised onto the main thoroughfare.
    The driver’s speed was no more than ten miles an hour. Ample parking existed on both sides of the street, and all the shops were long shuttered for the night, yet the sedan continued at a crawl. When Liam strolled to the corner and lit a cigarette, the car surged forward. Tires squealed when it braked by the curb.
    This was interesting.
    Sean remained out of sight, cocking his head in hopes of hearing the conversation that ensued. Unfortunately, Liam had practically leaned all the way into the window.
    Then Liam stood straight, jerked his arm in the direction of his and Brynn’s hotel and said, “I swear to God, she’s there.”
    Crap.
    Sean dug into his pocket, retrieved the burner cell Brynn had packed and sent the text he’d prepped in case of emergency.
    Get out.
    The car tore off. Sean dashed into the middle of the street, gun aimed at the back windshield, when the vehicle swerved suddenly—moving away from the hotel.
    Sean blinked. What the hell?
    He spun. Liam was frozen in his spot. The minute his watery gaze lifted from Sean’s gun to Sean’s face, he snapped out of his fugue and darted in the opposite direction, stumbling at first then taking off like a bullet.
    “Fucking A,” Sean muttered, dashing after the son of a bitch before he disappeared.
    The guy was intoxicated, but the cockroach knew the nooks and crannies of this town in ways Sean did not. He shot past a nearly hidden alcove before his brain registered that the door tucked into the shadows hadn’t been entirely closed. Sean backtracked, leading with his gun, fully aware that the guy, witnessing Sean’s unexpected appearance with a weapon, had a legitimate reason to run that might have nothing to do with the strangers in the car.
    But he wasn’t taking any chances.
    “Hey, Liam,” Sean shouted, attempting to sound friendly. “Sorry about the piece, man. Thought those guys were going to rough you up. I had your back, right? Come on out. I’ve got an opportunity for you.”
    With his hearing unreliable, Sean chanced shutting his eyes for a couple of seconds, hoping to pick up sounds that might elude him as he gazed through the darkness. He heard a scuffle from his left, spun to meet it then waited for confirmation that he’d focused in the right direction.
    He heard nothing.
    “Seriously, man,” he said, holstering his gun and holding his hands up. Liam was a snitch, but Sean doubted he was armed. “I’m just looking for some information. I’m willing to pay. Unless your friends in the black sedan beat me to it. I’ll double what they gave you. I’ve got cash.”
    Sean’s brain registered a presence behind him, but unless Liam had showered in vanilla-laced lotion in the few moments since he’d vanished, it wasn’t him.
    Brynn emerged from around a corner, her index finger pressed against her mouth. How she’d gotten here so fast—hell, how she’d gotten here at all—was a mystery he’d solve later. For now, he considered only the upside. One, he didn’t have to worry that she was in danger at the hotel. Two, he had backup.
    He signaled for her to go in the other direction. Light flashed off her 9mm, and his chest, seized with tension, unclenched enough for his breathing to regulate. He walked farther into the cavernous room. Every inch of the space was filled with furniture, shelves and tables of varying shapes and sizes. From the smells of baked clay and acrylic paint, he guessed they were in an artist’s studio.
    Not exactly an ideal place to be sneaking around in the dark.
    He slid toward the wall and spotted the light switch. He signaled for Brynn to duck under cover then flipped on the overheads.
    The momentary brightness blinded him, but with his quarry’s reaction slowed by drink, Sean caught sight of Liam a split second before he scurried to the door. Sean