Page 112 of Filthy Liar

Beckett nodded without argument, and BG suddenly appeared to speak with me, ending the conversation we’d all been having.

I was careful with what I said, telling the truth but leaving things out like I’d been told, and he almost seemed relieved that we hadn’t asked him to cover anything up.

I was told I could leave, but Reid and Logan were obviously supposed to be here all day working, just like Zavier. Ander was busy helping clean up the glass and board the broken windows until they could be fixed, so I’d followed Beckett out to her Mustang as my only option to get a ride home.

Anxiety filled me the entire trip back to Ashburn Valley, waiting for something else to go wrong.

It didn’t, and once we were inside the house, I let out a breath. “When does this shit end?”

“When Stefano’s in the fucking ground,” Beckett said brightly, double checking that the door was locked before doing a sweep of the house, even though the security team of Thieves that had been assigned to us had already done it.

She reached into her pocket and handed me my phone, my eyebrows shooting up. “You had it?”

“Lavaro did. He didn’t want the cops getting it,” she replied, walking to the fridge and helping herself to a beer. “Stefano has to slip up at some point soon so we can find him. He’s a fucking ghost, Raven. If Cruz’s tech can’t find him, we’re screwed. Well, you are. They’ll likely leave us alone once they get what they want.”

“How comforting,” I deadpanned. “Why are they going to all this trouble? They just wanted Zavier silenced because they think he knows mafia business that he shouldn’t. They’re acting like he stole a hard drive with all their secrets and is going to hand it over to the enemy.”

“Probably just power tripping. It goes to their heads,” she replied, pointing to the couch. “Sit.”

I dropped down on the couch, running my fingers through my tangled hair. “How do we put him in the ground then if we can’t find him?”

“Taking up a new career path of being an assassin? That won’t blend well with your teaching career of helping people,” she teased, sitting beside me.

“I thought I’d only have to worry about the piece of shit who killed Josh, but the mafia? It’s too much.”

“That prick’s sitting in a prison cell right now and still has ten years left, so don’t worry about him until you have to. Focus on the facts,” she instructed, holding her hand up to count things with her fingers. “One, you know who Stefano is and what he does. It’s not like he’s a hidden face that can surprise you. Two, he’s escalating with every attack. We need to be prepared for that. Third, he’s obviously getting information from locals if he got stuff out of Cami, which means you need to assume every single part of your life is part of his knowledge. Don’t convince yourself that he doesn’t know something, or you might get caught off guard. Four, he could’ve killed all of you by now, so why is he dancing around it?”

“Um, where have you been? He had me and Zav run down with a car as his entrance into town,” I said flatly, pushing down the emotions from that day.

“I think it was meant as a warning more than anything since they wanted Zavier to go with them. They could’ve driven past and shot you both instead if they just wanted to kill you both.”

“Does he want us dead or not then?” I scowled, getting frustrated. “Who’s even his target?”

“All of you.”

“Cami—”

“Cami was a loose end. That’s why he targeted her. It wasn’t because she knew you,” she pointed out.

“Do you think it’s possible we’re just outsmarting him?”

“Honestly? Maybe. Now we know he’s brought a tech guy in though, we might be in trouble. We’ve stayed ahead because of Cruz, but if this guy’s tech is better, we can’t compete.”

There was a knock on the door, and we both looked over at it in silence for a second before we heard a voice. “It’s Will, open up.”

Beckett stood, seeming to relax. I knew he was a thief, Drake and Cruz had mentioned him to me thinking he could’ve been a good match for me, but that was it.

A man stepped into the house wearing all black with multiple guns and knives attached to his gear, his eyes running over me for two seconds before he nodded.

“Hey. I wanted to introduce myself.”

“This isn't a Tinder date, buddy,” Beckett grumbled, and he had the decency to look embarrassed.

“No, I just wanted her to know that if she saw me and was in trouble, that she could come to me.”

“Thank you,” I said dryly, giving Beckett a dirty look. “She has no manners.”

“She’s taken now, you lost your chance,” Beckett said as if not hearing what I’d just said, squinting at me. “You could make room for Will though, right?”

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