Page 58 of Accepted Precedent
“Shh! Do you want us to get caught?”
I pull my hand back, and she shakes her head, whispering, “No, but… you really killed him?”
“For a woman who fucks someone who has killed dozens of men, how is this a shock to you?”
“Because you’re my sister!” she snaps, then lowers her voice. “What do we do now?”
I groan, pushing past her. “You used to be such a fucking badass, taking on organizations who tried to strip away privacy protections and women’s rights. Now look at you?What do we do now?” Her eyes widen at my mocking, but I don’t let up. “Come the fuck on, Evie. We don’t need a man to come save us. Ned will clean it up because we asked him to, but stop acting like a helpless cunt.”
“I-I’m not helpless.”
“Yes, you are. You’ve become too comfortable with your pretty house and your fucking sourdough—which is delicious, by the way, but that’s not the point. You were meant for more. We need to be smart about this. If the authorities get to him before Ned does, the cameras are now working in the hallways, so they could trace it back to us. We need to leave and put on a show. Drunk sisters stumbling in the hallway, going out for the night.”
“Are you insane? It’s two in the morning! What thirty-something women go out at two after bars close?”
“Fuck, you’re right. Um, okay, so what if we get in our bathing suits and pretend to go to the pool?”
“It’s closed,” she huffs, wringing her hands. “We could hire a male stripper? Pretend it’s someone’s bachelorette party?”
“We’re on the right track, but who would we call that we could trust?”
“Right… Oh!” Her eyes dance with mischief. “I have an idea. We’ll take a page out of Christopher’s book. I’ll invite Mickeyhere and we’ll catch on camera that I’m cheating. It’ll take the heat off.”
“First of all…” I number it off with my finger. “It’s barely cheating. You’re in love with him, and your marriage is just an inconvenience at this point. And second...” I lift another finger. “It’ll fuck over things with Andrew.”
“Then what the hell are we supposed to do?”
“Finn is dealing with something right now, and Mickey is, well, probably balls-deep in your husband’s ass.”Damn, what I wouldn’t give to have someone balls-deep inmyass…“I’ll call Ned, but while I’m on the phone, I need you to call Saoirse—Mickey’s cousin. In case I can’t reach Ned, she has contact information for anyone we could need who could black out the cameras again for us. Worst case, you can slip out of the hotel undetected, or at least get back to your room.”
As I scroll to find her contact info, Evie places her hand over mine. “No. You’re my sister, so I’m staying. We need to get rid of the murder weapon, but I’m not going to leave you until I know you’re safe. Call Ned, and see what’s best at this point.”
I nod and call Ned, he picks up after two rings. “Good evening, Ms. Proctor. I take it the job is done.”
“It is, but we ran into an issue. I… I had to do it myself.” Evelyn interlaces her fingers with mine and squeezes. I continue, “I had to use Mickey’s gun. My sister is here with me, but before we leave, I need to know that none of this will trace back to me, Evelyn, or the Gallaghers.”
“Well, we have a few options: We can get the two of you back to Mickey’s room after I shut off the cameras. In the morning, you’ll join your sister and change into workout clothes, then goto the gym at the hotel. After a quick thirty-minute session with girl-talk about how you slept like babies, you’ll go to brunch as if nothing is amiss. It could still come back to bite you in the ass if the authorities get there before I do to clean it up.”
“And what are the other options?”
“Well,” he chuckles, “they’re messier.”
“How messy?” I wince.
“I shut off the cameras, you start clean-up for me so I can get in and out quickly, and we doctor the video footage.”
“One second.” I cover my hand over the receiver and relay to Evie, “He says we can sneak you back to Mickey’s room and then go to brunch.”
“Brunch? What the fuck? No, I’m not leaving you,” she whisper-shouts, and I don’t blame her.
“Or we can start clean-up for him, and he’ll doctor the camera footage.” I then ask Ned, “Which is the safest for everyone involved?”
“Option two,” he replies without hesitation. “If the bullet is found in his body, they’ll trace it back to the Gallaghers—you’ll need to remove it. If everything goes to plan, I’ll make it look as if he never returned to his room after the gala, so he’ll be a missing person. I can stage something in the next day or so, away from the hotel. You are my client for this project, not the Gallaghers, so whatever you want to do to protect you and your sister, I’ll do it.”
“How do we start the”—I shut my eyes tight—“clean-up process?”
Chapter 25
Evelyn
