Page 91 of Crazy In Love (Secrets of Suburbi 3)

Chapter 34

Wednesday

I couldn’t look away from the TV in the dingy motel room. My murder had made national news. Scratch that. I’d crossed the border into Canada two days ago, which meant it had made the international news. But it was Aiden who was getting all the credit. He was becoming notorious for my crime. My plans. My brilliance. I would have felt cheated, but he was also taking the fall for me. And it was hard to feel cheated when all I felt was guilt. I regretted turning him in. We could have just escaped together. I hated how much I missed him. I hated how the guilt made my stomach feel like it was twisting in half.

He's A. Stop it. You couldn’t trust him.

But that didn’t mean he deserved this. My plan had been too good. They were already talking about the death penalty. And I couldn’t let that happen. I’d made him a promise, and I was going to keep it.

The sun was peeking through the blinds. This wasn’t how I wanted to spend Christmas morning. I’d promised Snuggle Muffins great things. And I was going to keep that promise too. But first, I had to fix what I had broken.

Originally I thought I might kill Aiden once I got my answers, but then I’d switched gears and framed him. And now that I’d framed him so well? I was switching gears again. Aiden had given me the greatest Christmas gift of all – my freedom. I wanted to give him his freedom back too. It was Christmas, after all.

“Wake up, Snuggle Muffins.” I rubbed his tummy. “It’s Christmas morning!”

He blinked up at me and wagged his little tail.

“I got you a present. I promise more will come later.” I placed the neatly wrapped gift down in front of him.

And he bit it. Almost like he knew he was going to hate what was inside. He shook his head back and forth, really getting into destroying his only Christmas gift.

“Stop it.” I grabbed the present away from him and tore the paper off. It was an adorable little Santa costume.

He growled at it.

“Don’t be that way. You already agreed to the plan. And you’re cute, but this will make you extra cute.”

After several attempts, I finally wrassled him into the outfit. I flicked the little jingle bell on the end of his hat and he sighed. “See. You look adorable.” I peppered his face with kisses and he looked considerably less upset.

“It’s go-time.”

I lifted him into my arms and took one last look at the crappy motel room. If today went as planned, we’d be in a nice hotel tonight. And a permanent residence in a few weeks. A new life. A fresh start. I closed the door behind us and made my way down the rickety steps.

Christmas morning was always eerily quiet, no matter where you were. Families were tucked inside their homes, cozy and warm. It felt like Snuggle Muffins and I were the only ones in the world outside this early on Christmas morning.

We got in the car and Snuggle Muffins watched me silently from the passenger seat.

“It’s going to work,” I said.

I still felt him staring.

“Fine. It’ll probably work. Happy?”

He sighed.

I didn’t know why he didn’t have more faith in the plan. It was Christmas, after all. And if anyone deserved a Christmas miracle, it was us.

I pulled the car out of the motel’s parking lot. We’d already hit all three addresses in Canada that were on our list. The first two from Detective Torres’ phone had been useless. One was a police station, where he’d probably listened in on Sophia’s questioning. The other address was in a neighborhood similar to the one I’d left behind. A house with a “sold” sign out front. A cute little place on Cherry Lane. And a complete and utter dead end.

But the third address? The one that Aiden had given me? I’d only had to stake the place out for two hours before I realized I’d hit the jackpot. It was Sophia freaking Tremblay’s new place. And I mean brand new. A custom home. Enormous. Gorgeous. And…bought with my money. It was easy to figure that out with a quick Google search. The only owner’s name on record was Dr. Noah Collins. He’d used my money to buy my replacement this house. Months ago. He’d been planning my death for months. The only question was…had she already given up her old identity? Was she already me? Did she have my money tucked away somewhere in her ginormous home?

Those were all questions that I couldn’t find the answers to online. I needed to get inside. I stared at the huge house. There were still Amazon packages piled at the front door that had been there yesterday. Sophia apparently had no worry of theft or anything malicious happening in her fancy neighborhood. She was just spending my money all willy nilly, strutting around with my face and my bank account without a care in the world. Well, she was in for a rude Christmas surprise.

I looked down at Snuggle Muffins.

He sighed.

“You got this boy. It’ll be the performance of a lifetime.”

---