Page 116 of By the Time You Read This

“No ...,” Raisa said, but trailed off, her mouth going dry.

Her eyes slid to Gabriela, who was now looking at the floor.

Raisa widened her stance as if to regain her balance, yet the boat hadn’t moved at all. It was the reality of the case that had shifted.

Of course Gabriela had visited Isabel. The girl had told them that very first visit that she had gone to talk to her.

But Raisa had lost track of that detail in the aftermath of the attempt on Kilkenny’s life. If that hadn’t happened, they would have gone to check the visitor logs that very morning. They would have seen Gabriela hadn’t been listed.

They would have known she had either lied to them or used a fake name to get in.

Maybe ... maybe that was why Gabriela had taken a run at them in the first place. She had guessed they would check the logs, and she’d realized she’d misplayed her hand.

She wasn’t perfect—she wasn’t Isabel. She’d had to clean up her mess, and to do so, she’d nearly killed Kilkenny.

The worst part was that it had worked.

Stupid,Raisa chastised herself, even as she brought her gun back up. This time she pointed it at Gabriela. “You used Roan Carmichael’s name as cover for visiting Isabel.”

Gabriela looked like she was caught between two impulses. But given another heartbeat, she broke into a smug grin. “I can’t believeIsabel thoughteitherof you was interesting enough to fuck with. But people are always weird about family.”

Raisa pulled her phone out of her pocket with her free hand, while keeping her gun trained on Gabriela. Taking the shot would endanger Delaney, but the threat of it might keep Gabriela from getting too clever.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Gabriela said. “I’m guessing you’re calling in the cavalry?”

Raisa knew she should just stop listening to her. But she hesitated.

“You know, aiming for Kilkenny with that SUV served two purposes,” Gabriela said, like she didn’t have two guns aimed at her head by grown women who outnumbered her. “One, obviously, was to try to make you take out your own sister. How glorious would that have been? Especially when you later found out she wasn’t guilty.”

Gabriela did a chef’s kiss gesture. “I just loved Isabel’s big brain. It was my favorite thing about her.”

“My favorite thing is that she’s dead,” Raisa said flatly. “I guess I should thank you for that.”

Storm clouds blew in and out of Gabriela’s expression. “Anyway, the second purpose it served—along with the reason that I was glad I didn’t actually kill him—was it gave me leverage.”

“You can’t just blindly threaten Kilkenny,” Raisa said.

“Is that what I said I was doing?” Gabriela asked. “Have you learned nothing from dealing with Isabel? We don’t do anything blindly.”

Raisa’s stomach lurched, and it had nothing to do with the boat swaying beneath her feet.

Delaney’s gaze slid over her shoulder like she was wondering how fast they could get out of the cabin and to the hospital.

“You know that nurse you like so much?” Gabriela asked. “The young man working the desk? That’s Emily Logan’s boyfriend, and he found her as annoying as I did. If he doesn’t hear from me in the next—” She searched out a clock. “Three minutes, he’s going to goahead and make sure Kilkenny never wakes up from the little nap he’s been taking.”

“Call him,” Delaney said, jamming the gun into Gabriela’s temple.

But Gabriela’s expression didn’t change, and all Raisa could think about was what Kilkenny would say here.

Gabriela was erratic. With Declan O’Brien’s death, her killing spree was heating up. That usually ended with a flame out to match just how devastating the inferno had been.

A gun to Gabriela’s head was not going to save Kilkenny.

Raisa did every quick calculation she could, trying to come up with the best scenario possible.

And then Delaney threw both herself and Gabriela sideways.

The two grappled on the ground for a minute before Gabriela emerged, breathing heavily.

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