Page 38 of The Kat Bunglar

Landing Back in Chicago

Jay was in a rush to get home. Yanking their suitcases off the conveyor belt, he hailed the first cab he could find. Laila’s stomach dipped. Hopefully, the security alarm wasn’t a sign of something truly terrible.

“Hey, Mrs. Malik, nice to see you back again so soon. I like the outfit change,” Harold, their doorman, greeted her with a grin.

“Thanks, Harold,” Laila replied, bemused.

“Harold, did you notice our security alarm was triggered?” Jay asked, his voice tight.

“Um... no. Nothing unusual on my end.” Harold frowned as he checked the system. His eyes widened. “My apologies, sir. I just noticed the alert. I’ll notify the police right away. Hopefully, it’s just a false alarm.”

“Let’s hope so,” Jay murmured.

He said nothing else, his face taut with anxiety. Laila bit her lip and followed him into the elevator. She tried to reach for his hand, but he shrugged her off, eyes locked on his phone.

“Why are all the cameras turned off?” Jay’s frustration was evident.

“I’m sure it’s nothing,” Laila said, forcing her voice to stay calm. But inside, anxiety surged like a tidal wave, crashing against her chest.

When the elevator doors opened, she hesitated, her pulse thundering as they approached their penthouse.

The front door was wide open.

Dread curled in her stomach.

They stepped inside cautiously. Laila’s breath hitched.

Gabriel lay bound and gagged on their living room floor.

She let out a strangled cry.

Present Day

July 10

O’Hare Airport

Kat Kar

Kat and Christian sat in stunned silence on the plane. They had booked economy seats—not out of necessity, but because neither of them felt worthy of business class.

“Should we have called an ambulance?” Kat whispered for the umpteenth time, wincing as a baby wailed in the background and a toddler relentlessly kicked the back of her seat. “He was kind of bleeding a little.”

“Sure. And while he was getting bandaged up all pretty, you and I would’ve been hauled away in cuffs,” Christian snapped, gritting her teeth as the man beside her coughed without covering his mouth.

Kat pulled the envelope from her backpack. Both of them stared at it apprehensively.

“What could be so important that it needs a safe with a trigger alarm?” she murmured.

“Only one way to find out,” Christian replied.

Kat hesitated, then carefully opened the envelope and unfurled the pages. They read in slow, deliberate silence.

“Oh my God,” Kat breathed.

“Sweet baby Jesus in heaven—we have to let this woman know.”

“How?” Kat cried. “Justcallher and say, ‘Oh hey, while we were robbing you, we came across something crazy youreallyneed to know about yourself’?”

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