Page 43 of The Perfect Crime

So the guy wasn’t after drugs or sex after all.He just wanted to do something nice for his wife.Admittedly, it was via illicit means and at the price of the well-being of the diamond miners, often impoverished men, women and children in war-torn regions.But considering what his wifethoughtwas going on, she might find this explanation far preferable.

Now that Hannah had her answer, she needed to get out of this place without drawing suspicion from the large man with the gun.But before she could come up with a plan, she heard footsteps.The guard was returning.She tiptoed back to her chair and sat down just as he rounded the corner.

He eyed her skeptically but said nothing as he returned to his spot outside the inner office door.As he squared up to his full height, with his back to the door, Hannah made a decision.To get out of here, she would go with an oldie-but-goodie, the “I’m a just a girl out of my depth” routine.

“You know,” she said, standing up, “I’m kind of embarrassed to say this, but after being here for a few minutes and seeing what a nice place you have here, I’m starting to think that I couldn’t afford the price of what I want.”

“Who sent you here thinking you could pay, if you can’t?”the security guard asked suspiciously.

“A girlfriend of mine,” she said, doing her best to sound like an airhead, “Her dad’s this rich banker type.I guess he used you guys in the past.The truth is, I gave her the impression that I’m more well off than I really am.And now that I’m here, I’m feeling really silly.And in over my head.I think I should just go.”

“What’s the rich dad’s name?”he asked.

"Oh, I don't think I should say that," she told him."It's clear that you guys take confidentiality very seriously.And I know he does, too.I don't want to mess with any of that."

The man walked over to her slowly, his hand on his hip.She could picture what was waiting for her under there.For the briefest of seconds, she considered making a move to try to bring him down.

Maybe she could dive at his knees and take one out.But he seemed like the kind of guy who would be prepared for that.And he’d still have a gun.Even if shecouldtemporarily incapacitate him, she’d have to run back down the hallway to the locked phone booth thing, where the guy behind the ticket window probably had a gun too.That plan was no plan at all.

The man came to a stop just feet from her and stared down.She could see the gun peeking out from under his jacket and wondered: if she moved quickly enough, could she snag it from him and shoot her way out?But she shoved the idea from her mind.It was even crazier than the first one.

“I think you’re right,” he said with contempt in his voice, “you should just leave.Go back the way you came.And never return here again, little girl.”

She didn’t need to be told twice.Nodding hurriedly, she turned and walked back down the hall as quickly as she could without actually running.The guard shouted something in a language she didn’t understand.Whatever it was, it made the ticket taker guy buzz the phone booth door.She snuck through and moved toward the large exterior metallic one.

But it remained closed.Had they changed their minds?She was about to turn back around when she heard a nasty chuckle followed by a loud buzz.The ticket-taker guy had been toying with her, trying to freak her out.It had kind of worked.

She pushed the door open and stepped out onto the shadowy but infinitely brighter walking path.Asia was still sitting on her stool, only now she was biting her nails.Hannah gave her a forced smile and headed down the path in the opposite direction from the one she’d taken to get there.

It was only after she rounded the corner onto the adjoining street that she realized she’d been holding her breath this whole time.She took a giant gasp of air.And then another.It took a full minute before she felt something like her normal self again.

Only then did she pull out her phone to let Kat know she was still alive.

CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN

Jessie felt herself drifting.

She bolted upright to stop it and banged her shoulder against the passenger door of Ryan’s car.

“Ow!”she muttered.

“What was that?”Ryan asked from the driver’s seat.

“I started to fall asleep and that was my way of stopping it,” she said grumpily.“Sorry if I’m fading a little but it’s almost 9 p.m.and we’ve staking out Forrester for almost three hours now and I barely slept at all last night.Maybe you should be a better husband and keep me entertained so I stay alert.”

“What would you like me to do?”he asked, mildly amused.

“My request might interfere with our surveillance plan,” she teased.

He smiled.

“I appreciate that you’ve still got a little spice in you after sitting in a car all this time,” he said, “but yeah, maybe we keep our attention focused on the job at hand for now.And just as a side note, you do realize that if this adoption thing happens, then having another human in the house, especially a little one, might complicate our flexibility in that area.”

“We had Hannah in the house for two years and it didn’t impact things too much,” she said.

“That’s because she was always either in her room with her earphones in or out somewhere,” he reminded her.

“Fair point,” she acknowledged before she had an unrelated thought.“Hey, should we maybe check in with Susannah and Sam?”

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