Page 3 of Dangerous Lies

“All I need is for you to makeitlook real,” Brittany said. She stepped so close her lilac perfume filled the air. “I need you to knock me out.”

He remembered her stating her plan, but he couldn't punch Brittany no matter how much he hated her. “Use makeup or something. I'm not going to hit you.”

“We are running out of time,” Brittany said. “You can think ofitthis way. If you don't hit me, I will be dead, because he won't believe me when I say you just walked out the door.”

The door to the room banged open. The thug who’d tortured him for weeks stepped in to the room. Ginger didn't think twice as he raised the gun and put a bullet in the center of the man's chest.

Ginger used the bars to keep himself upright as he stumbled a few steps.Therewas a good chance the thug had broken his leg and a few of his fingers. His swollen eye madeithard tosee, but he didn't want to wait to find out if Carter had more thugs on the way.

“You have to hit me,” Brittany said as he stepped out of the room.

Freedom. Ginger steadied himself against the wall as he limped down a narrow hallway only to see a set of stairs at the end. He wasn't sure hecouldpull himself up the steps, but he would try.

The clicking of Brittany's heels made him turn around.

“I’m not going to hit you,” he said. His entire body throbbed with each step, and he was unsure he would make it up the stairs.

“Please, help Rose. Iknowyou have no reason to trust me, but if you help her, I'll feed you information.” She wrapped her manicured fingers around his arm and helped him up each step. When they reached the top, he wanted to collapse to the floor, but he couldn't.

“I'll call her.” He glanced down at Brittany. “What do you plan to do?”

Her eyes darted to the side. “I'll pay someone to beat the crap out of me and stage this. Time is not on my side. You need to leave.”

His leg killed him as he hobbled out of the house into a dark street. The warm, humid air hit his skin. The burner phone Brittany had given him was in the front pocket of his jeans. He stared atit, debating who to call.

He limped a few blocks until he was near a bench. He collapsed to the sand and called the only person heknewcouldhelp him.

2

ROSE

Rose zipped up her brand-new biohazard suit and turned around in the mirror. The thing wasn't sexy at all, butitkept the stink of her job from seeping into her skin. Nothing was worse than someone next to her commenting on thesmellof decay.

Her old suit still worked, but a late-night scroll through TikTok had sent her down a rabbit hole where she’d found a new state-of-the-art garment which had Bluetooth speakers inside the headpiece and a fan. Often her jobs had no air conditioning andher old suit became hot.

Later, she would break out her Cricut Maker and cut out her company logo to put on the back of the suit.

Her business had increased tenfold in the last year from word of mouth. She didn't depend on the cops to call her for jobs.

Rose pulled off the biohazard hood and sat it next to her on the bed. All she had to do was attach the body camera to the suit.

Years ago, she’d learned to tape everything she did. Family members were quick to blame her for stealing their precious inheritance. Nothing was more satisfying than pulling out the video footage of when she came to a job site and when she left. Only a couple of times, a family member continued to complain and tried to tell her she’d turned the camera off.

The footage came in handy for other things also, like the fact Las Vegas had an active serial killer. She’d tried to explain her thoughts to Detective Evan Miller, but he’d informed her to stay in her own lane and stop trying to be a cop. Then the man continued to ask her out on a date for the tenth time. No way would she go to dinner with a man who didn't take her seriously.

Many men didn'tlook past herhourglass figure or large breasts. She had given up on dating six years ago when her son came into the picture. Tyler was her pride and joy. Technically, she didn't date before him either.

Her phone beeped on the bed, notifying her someone had pulled into her driveway. She clicked on the security camera app. On the screen, a tall man exited the driver-side door of a Jeep Wrangler. He had a hat on, so she couldn't make out his face, but she couldn't help but check out his body. The black shirt he wore molded to his chest, and she wished he would turn so shecouldcheck out his ass, but he stepped out of view.

The doorbell chimed through the house. No matter if he was sexy, he wasstill thereto sell something.

Her biohazard suit made people uncomfortable. She would useittogetthe man off her porch quicker.

She jogged down the stairs and swung open the door. The man's green eyes narrowed at her, and his lip turned up into a smirk.

“I'm not interested.” She tried to shove the door shut.

He stuck his foot in the doorway, stoppingitfrom closing.

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