Page 62 of Taking

“You’ll inherit everything your mother left to you,” Ciarra added, “and Lloyd gets nothing.”

“Exactly.”

Ciarra smirked, a glint in her eye. “Talk about ruthless revenge!”

I huffed a laugh while pushing away the guilt over telling her a half-truth. She had no idea about the rest of the shit we wanted to do to my rapist. Hopefully, he didn’t see or catch wind of us being in the city.

That would fuck everything up.

* * *

“So, who is this guy, exactly?” I asked as Gideon drove us southward into Anchorage the next evening after being shut up in our hotel room all day. Twilight already covered the land thanks to the Alaskan winter, and I felt like we headed into even deeper darkness with what we had planned.

Gideon’s gaze flicked from rearview to side mirrors and back again.

Always watchful.

“Roger’s nephew,” he finally answered me. “Eugene. Don’t know much else.”

“And you’re sure the evidence on that flash drive is enough to put Devon’s father away?”

“Positive. Rogers wouldn’t lie. The shit he’s suffered because of his supposed friend, partner in crime—he’d slice Bradshaw’s neck given the chance.”

“I’m surprised he didn’t just ask you to do it for him,” I said, glancing out the windshield as we entered a part of the city I was well acquainted with. Mere blocks from the university. We passed the pizzeria Leo and I had gone to.

It seemed ages ago. How I thought I could ever be with someone other than Gideon…

“Rogers wants the sheriff locked up with him so he can do the deed himself.”

“What’s on the drive?” I asked.

“Pictures. Phone recordings. Falsified records of evidence. Copies of emails. All of it will prove Sheriff Bradshaw was just as crooked as his partner in crime.”

“Partner being Rogers, right?”

“Yep. Devon’s dad framed his buddy, had him arrested before Rogers had a chance to retrieve the evidence.”

“Why didn’t his lawyer just get it and take it to court to prove his innocence?”

“A rich friend paid off Rogers’s defense team.” Gideon glanced at me, his eyes suggesting I make a guess. Connect the dots.

“Lloyd,” I breathed what had to be true.

“Yep. Sheriff wasn’t the only one benefitting from confiscated evidence. Lloyd was always a gambler. Out for a quick buck, and he didn’t mind spending if it meant a possible return. Keeping Bradshaw from jail meant more possible shit for him to sell off and profit from.”

“Asshole,” I muttered. “I’m meeting this Eugene guy,” I stated, ready to put up a fight if Gideon denied me. “I’m seeing this shit through to the very end with you.”

He reached over and laced his fingers through my chilled ones. “Wouldn’t have it any other way, princess.”

I relaxed, warm fuzzies in my belly making me smile. “So, where are we going?”

“Dive diner. A few blocks away.”

We slid into an old booth a few minutes later, fifties music of all things muffled in the background. Only a handful of people sat drinking coffee and eating pie, and I shifted on my seat across from Gideon. He faced the door, waiting for Eugene, the one who held the ticket to our revenge on Sheriff Bradshaw. A winter hat covered his head and ears, three days’ worth of whiskers helping to hide his identity in case Lloyd had people looking for us. I wore the same, my white-blonde hair tucked up beneath.

“How do you know this guy won’t turn on you?” I asked quietly as the waitress moved off with our order for water and chamomile tea.

“He doesn’t know what’s on the drive. Can’t access it without the password,” Gideon replied, his gaze over my shoulder without a doubt plastered to the door.

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