Walk In My Shadow: A Gripping Romantic Thriller (Mirror Book 3): A Mirror Novel Read Online Free PDF Page B

calmly.
    She knew the old adage of 'don't ask a question you don't want to know the answer to,' but the problem was, she already knew the answer.
    It still made her sick to hear it.
    Vance pointed to a steel-topped table on the other side of the room, specifically the thick folder sitting on it, all of which she noticed for the first time. "Look through it. I'll be back."
    He strode past her. The door opened miraculously for him and closed fast with a heavy snap. She didn't bother trying to open it again. She heard the lock click into place as the rest of the pieces began to click together inside her mind.
    She was in a CIA facility, all because of Ethan. Vance or Ace or whoever the hell he was hadn't had any interest in dating her. He must've known she might not have come in for questioning on her own accord. At the very least, she'd have brought Teige along.
    She put on her best show and went to look at the folder, prepared to see the same types of missing persons reports Ethan already sent her. If the CIA knew about the phone call and those letters, Vance was playing that close to the best.
    If she gave away all her intel, they'd have zero use for her. She'd be entirely disposable. It was the same position many of the witnesses she'd protected found themselves in. In order to save herself, she had to keep her information to herself. Telling could easily get her killed, not protected.
    She approached the table, all business, as though this was a case she had no personal interest in. If she acted like she was in charge of the case, half the battle was won.
    The dispassion lasted until she opened the folder and saw the photo that had to have been purposely positioned on top, designed to get a reaction.
    It did. No "acting surprised" necessary. She shoved her first against her mouth, bile rising in her throat at the image of the dead woman in the crime scene picture. She'd been staked into the ground, spread-eagled, naked…and she looked just like Abby.

    * * *
    V ance watched Abby through the one-way mirror, his entire body strung tight as fuck with tension. She'd begun to page through the rest of the file photos with an attempt at a dispassionate eye. The only dead woman had been the first picture. The rest were dismembered males of all ages, mainly Caucasian. The file contained a write-up on Ethan Graves, name and rank kind of shit.
    Now was the time to let Abby fill in the missing intel.
    Vance was only partially hoping she could.
    He strode back inside the room where Abby was being held and threw a water bottle and a towel in her direction. She'd vomited in the garbage pail after the first photo, which was exactly the reaction he'd been hoping for. To her credit, she'd pulled herself together quickly, but he'd given her strong shit to get her passed out and back to the facility. Combined with the photos, he'd known the effects both would have on her.
    She met his gaze. "Fuck you." Then she downed the water—after checking the seal—and pointed to the folder when she was done. "What the hell is all this?"
    "All of Ethan's kills."
    "I don't believe it." But she did, a little bit. He heard a small waver in her voice.
    "When's the last time you heard from him?"
    "It's been a while," she admitted. "Eight months or more."
    She was lying. Granted, she was only leaving out a single phone call but if she was holding back on that…
    She was smart. Maybe too smart for her own good.
    According to the rest of her phone records, there were many calls from her phone to Ethan's, just long enough to be frustrated dial-ups with no answer and maybe even a voicemail or two in the beginning. At the moment, Vance knew Ethan's voicemail was full.
    "I've told you the truth. You need to explain what this is all about," she said.
    "I don't need to do anything but pay taxes and die."
    "The latter can't come soon enough," she muttered.
    "Is that a threat?"
    "I look at it more as wish fulfillment."
    He stared at her. "Tell me what you know about