Page 33 of Liar For Hire (For Hire 1)

Patrick smirked. He went on, not bothering to defend his opinion. “When I learned where he was, I had to find out if he posed a threat to my plans. I thought he didn’t, not with you by his side.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It’s not an insult. I’m simply saying you would keep him pretending to be something he’s not.”

“Wow, okay, you’re not insulting me by claiming I’m making Declan live a lie. Is that it?”

He shrugged.

Her hands ached to smack his face. Better yet, to sock him in the eye. But she wasn’t a violent person and had never been in a physical fight in her life. As much as she had vetted Patrick, she couldn’t have guessed he would stoop to breaking into her house and threatening to take her hostage. She still had no clue what he was going on about. Maybe he was high or drunk.

“Look, I don’t know what you’ve been smoking, but trust me you will regret it in the morning if you don’t just get out of here and leave me alone. You two.” She pointed her chin at Patrick’s employees or whatever they were. “You need to get ahold of your boss so he doesn’t break the law any further than he already has. If you guys leave now, I might not call the police.”

“Help her to pack some things,” Patrick ordered the woman. He looked at Janessa and smiled. “You see? I’m not a complete monster.”

The three of them chuckled like he made some type of joke. Janessa figured he should keep his day job because ‘funny’ was the last thing she thought of when it came to Patrick.

In a few moments, she had a bag packed and sat in the back seat of Patrick’s car with the woman. Janessa had thought of resisting some more, but these people were serious. She was starting to be very afraid that they might kill her if she pushed too much. It might be better if she bided her time and found a way of escape later.

Patrick didn’t live nearby, so maybe he intended for them to take a flight. There was no way he would get her on a plane. She would scream bloody murder the second she spotted airport security.

On the other hand, Patrick might intend to drive to get home. She would need to look for an opportunity if he made bathroom breaks or food stops.

As they sped along the highway, dashing her hopes for an airport rescue, she thought about Declan. They had parted saying goodbye, both expecting to have little to no influence in each other’s lives again. Now this mess came up. Could she expect him to come to her rescue? Would he do whatever it was Patrick wanted him to do?

The moon still brightened the dark sky when Patrick’s man pulled into a restaurant’s parking lot. All the lights inside were on, and people moved about. Talk about an early start.

Her door opened, and the man stepped back to wait for Janessa to exit the car. The woman slid out behind her and

grabbed her arm. Janessa jerked away. “I can walk without your assistance.”

The woman glowered at her, but she didn’t force the issue.

Janessa took in the restaurant that must be Patrick’s cousin’s place. She recalled the name from when they were supposed to meet there previously. Janessa turned to Patrick. “I thought you were taking me to your home.”

“Soon. We don’t want to get too far ahead of Declan, do we? No telling if he’s able to track after all this time—and with his issues.”

“You look for every opportunity to insult him. I thought you were a nice person, but I see I totally misjudged you. That’s why whenever Declan insisted we refuse take a client I listened to him. He was never wrong, and he pegged you. Let me tell you right now, you’re not getting away with this.”

Patrick ignored her protests and walked ahead of her into the restaurant. She was shoved into a chair to watch while Patrick consulted with a man who looked like he could be Patrick’s brother. Tall, silver eyes, strong physique, and of course the expensive suit, this must be the cousin.

Every person in the restaurant was tall, decent-looking, and from the ones who moved close enough for her see, had silver eyes. These were Patrick and Declan’s people.

The woman dropped into the seat next to Janessa while the rest of the group gathered around Patrick. They spoke in hushed enough tones that Janessa couldn’t overhear.

Janessa turned to the woman. “What’s your name?”

“Does it matter?”

“I want to give the police a name when I get out of here.”

The woman frowned. “You put on a tough act, but I smell your fear. You don’t know if that coward will come to rescue you.”

“You better watch your mouth before I make you.”

The woman snorted in amusement. “You still don’t know who you’re dealing with, do you?”

“A bunch of cultists?”

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