Page 135 of House of Lies

“Aw, congrats! Who’s the new owner?”

“Fucked if I care. Tell me you’ll get rid of her, Myles.”

He laughs. “Yeah, fine, you ungrateful son of a bitch.”

I can’t help but smile. “I mean, it was a kind gesture, but—wait, hold on.”

Myles must hear the sudden uneasiness in my voice, because he stops talking immediately.

I slow down my truck, and then hesitate before switching off my headlights. There’s enough moonlight for me to make out the road, the entrance to the crypt up ahead, and a black panel van parked out front.

Someone’s trespassing on my property.

“Ethan?” Myles says quietly. “You still there?”

I stop my Mercedes. Let it idle. Turn off the ignition. “How soon can you get to Glenmont?”

“Forty-five minutes, give or take. What’s happened?”

“He’s here. Angelo’s parked in front of the crypt.”

“You fucking wait for us to get there,” Myles says.

“He’s here, Myles. What if she’s here too?”

“Ethan, listen to me. You don’t fucking go in there alone.”

He’s right. Logically, it makes sense to wait. Angelo has had Cassidy for over an hour. The chances of her still being alive are?—

“I still have Smith’s gun. I’ll be fine.” I end the call before Myles can try to talk me out of it. I immediately switch my phone to silent, knowing he’ll try to phone back.

Taking out the Glock, I keep both hands wrapped around the grip as I hurry over to the crypt’s entrance. I ease my way inside, creeping down the narrow stairs. There’s nothing I can do about the crunch of grit under my boots, or that anyone in the chamber below can look up and see me coming.

But when I clear the stairs and step into the antechamber, it’s empty.

Well, there aren’t people in it, but it’s far from empty.

I’ve always appreciated the finer things. It started with my interest in precious stones. Long hours spent at my father’s side in his workshop as he taught me everything he knew about gems.

After I met Myles and the money started flowing in, I was too scared to bank it, too nervous to flaunt it. So I started buying gems, art, bearer bonds, and any other money-laundering friendly assets I could get my hands on. It was only after Smith started helping me to launder my own money that I bought Glenmont. Finally, I had a place to store all my ill-begotten goods.

I was shocked when I came here the other day.

I’d forgotten how much shit I was hoarding.

Chapter 55

Cassidy

It’s so quiet inside this eerie place that I can hear my own breath. The sound of things moving in the shadows. Rats, roaches, I don’t know. I try not to think about ghosts and boogeymen, but my mind keeps slipping in and out of consciousness.

A brief nightmare about Angelo ripping my flesh off with his knife ends abruptly when I hear footsteps hurry over to me.

Crunch, crunch, crunch!

He’s here! He’s come to rescue me! Oh thank?—

Angelo appears in front of me, a bundle of fabric in one hand and a roll of duct tape in the other.

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