Page 10 of Coup De Grâce
But when it was quiet and the lights were off, I could close my eyes and think of Eva. She was the one constant in my mind, pulling me through the darkness when all I wanted to do was drown.
4
LIBBY
I bootedup my laptop and tossed my things on my bed, then undressed and went in to take a shower. I needed to rinse the feel of Brett off me. Though he was exactly what I needed, it made me feel dirty. He was a means to an end and I got what I needed.
As soon as I was showered and had brushed out my hair, I wrapped a towel around my body and sat on my bed. The last thing I wanted to do right now was get involved in anything that had to do with Rafe.
But the fact that Brett had been following me told me all I needed to know. Whatever Rafe had gotten involved in, it wasn’t even close to being over. That would explain all the phone calls from Eva over the past few months. I assumed she was trying to reach out to me as a sister, but instead, she was probably trying to warn me.
Not that I needed or wanted her protection. I could handle myself just fine.
I downloaded the images from the cloud and studied the keycard I’d snapped a picture of. The business was one I hadn’t heard of, but that wasn’t a big surprise. Anyone who wasinvolved in anything to do with Rafe would want to keep their movements low-key.
After a little research, I found that Brett was the owner of some kind of mediation group. I didn’t really see the point of a company like that, but he seemed to be doing well for himself. But how was he connected to Rafe?
I ran every search I could think of, digging through any aspect of his life that could possibly cross with Rafe’s. And still, I came up empty. When I was done with that, I hacked into his bank account and went through his financials, looking for anything there, but still came up empty.
There wasn’t a single charity, bank, city, or anything else I could think of where their paths might have crossed. So, how did that link him to my dearly departed husband?
There was only one way to find out and that was by going directly to the source. I dressed quickly, studying the camera feed I’d set up while Brett was in the shower this morning. He was at what appeared to be his house, and he was packing for a trip.
After checking airlines and private flights, I finally found his destination, and it was halfway across the world. Since it was the weekend, I was betting the office would be closed down.
That didn’t mean security wouldn’t be there. It would take a hell of a lot to break into a building, and I had to assume that this man had top-notch security if he was connected to Rafe.
But there was no way I was walking away until I knew why he was so interested in me.
I gathered everything I needed, including spending an exorbitant amount of time replicating his keycard. It had to hold up against all security or it would be useless. Then I studied the plans of the building and found his office. There was no guarantee I would make it up there, but I had to try.
It took me four hours to reach his office. The man had gone out of his way to follow me, which only confirmed my suspicions that this was not a friendly run-in. Not that his following me around could be misconstrued as anything else.
But as I walked past his building, it was pretty clear that getting inside might be easy, but getting out would be the hard part. Security swarmed the building, and as soon as they were alerted to my presence, which was bound to happen since I was unaware of any security parameters inside, I would be found out.
I didn’t relish the idea of shooting my way out, and feigning ignorance wouldn’t work since I slept with the man. I might have fooled him so far, but as soon as I showed up at his property, he would know I was onto him.
Walking across the street to a coffee house, I sat near the window and scoped out the place, putting a plan together. It was while I was studying the building that a very familiar face appeared down the street from the building. That couldn’t be a coincidence.
Slipping out of the coffee house, I headed in the opposite direction until I reached the crosswalk, then strode right up behind him and slipped my hand into his crooked arm.
“Just keep smiling and pretend we’re lovers.”
“Libby. What the hell are you doing here?”
“I would guess the same thing as you.”
I felt his body tense at my words, but despite everything in him screaming to get me out, he didn’t follow those instincts, which I was eternally grateful for. I hadn’t gone through all that shit last night only to have my legs cut out from under me.
“This is not something you should be involved in.”
“Funny. I believe that’s what Rafe felt also, and look how that turned out.”
“With you still alive,” he bit out.
“He didn’t seem to care all that much when we were together. Remember everything I did for him? All the jobs I went on to help him? It’s strange that he never felt he could confide in me.”
“He didn’t want you to end up dead like him.”
