Page 14 of Tapped

“What?!” Jeff snaps. “I already paid the five-hundred thousand. You’re not getting another penny.”

“Don’t know what to say. Price’s gone up. Inflation and risk. If you want it done, you’re going to have to shell out.”

“Fuck.” Jeff pauses before he agrees. “Fine. I’ll pay. But this time he’d better get the job done. I don’t care how or where, but he better not botch it this time. Evie and Chase need to be together, and it cannot be linked to me. I need my alibi to be solid. I don’t want to go through this twice.”

I can’t look at my husband for another moment. I forget that I’m with a stranger and turn my face into Micah’s chest to let out a real sob this time.

I’m a crier and always have been. But this is different.

So very different.

Jeff keeps talking.“I want to know who it is to make sure they follow through. How do I know you’re not just pocketing my money and will blackmail me later?”

“No can do. My contact never meets clients.”

A stagnant, heavy silence blankets the small room broken only by my own whimpers. My fingers fist Micah’s shirt. I don’t care that he’s a stranger. He told me he had proof, and I basically dared him to give it to me.

The special agent has turned out to be a man of his word.

I don’t know if I can take any more. I want to scream and demand he turn off the live stream. But this is what I get. I asked for it, after all.

I need to know it all. It’s what I do in work and in real life.

“Tell me when and where to drop the cash. I’ll be there.”

No. I’ve had enough.

“Turn it off,” I beg into the stranger’s chest. “Please, turn it off. You’ve proved your point. I can’t take it.”

I didn’t realize Micah’s hand had worked its way into my hair where he’s holding me to his chest. But he lets me go long enough to pick up a remote to click off the TV.

I have no idea what’s going on in the interrogation room or how Jeff will try to get out of what he did after that. There’s no way he can refute his own words.

Micah’s hand lands on the back of my head for the second time. I realize where I am, who I’m with, and what I’ve done.

I need to get my shit together.

I push away and the tattooed arms that were firmly holding me fall from my body.

“I’m sorry. I mean, thank you. You were right. That’s what I asked for—you know, proof.” I shake my head and swipe at my tears. I can’t help the panic bubble inside me. “I need to get out of here. Where is Chase? I want to take my son home. Now.”

Micah steps forward to grip my shoulders and look me in the eyes with his intense blue ones. “Calm down. Chase is with Brax. He doesn’t need to see you like this. Now that you know, we have things we need to talk about.”

I shake my head. “What is there to talk about? You can fix this, right? Just arrest everyone that needs to be arrested. I’ll divorce Jeff—faster than I planned—and we can all move on. I mean, I hope Jeff gets charged with something for this. You can’t just pay someone to kill two people without consequences even if it wasn’t carried out. He admitted it—you have the evidence. Do your thing, and I’ll do everything in my power to make sure Chase knows as little as possible about the man who deserves to rot in hell. The end.”

Micah shakes his head. “It’s hardly the end, Evie. This isn’t even close to being over. You can’t just go home and go on with your life.”

I try to pull away but he holds tight. “That’s exactly what I’m going to do. Chase’s life will go back to normal, just without his deadbeat dad. No pun intended.”

His grip on me tightens. “You and your son are not safe until we find him. The order is still out there. Evie, we have no idea who he paid.”

“What?” The word falls from my lips on a breath. “What do you mean, you don’t know? Who was the guy Jeff was talking to? Arrest him. Make him tell you.”

“We need to find him. His name is Adder, that’s all we know. Does that name sound familiar? Did Jeff mention that name?”

I shake my head. “No. I’ve never heard that name in my life. But Jeff never talked about anyone. Never brought anyone home.”

“There’s a warrant out for his arrest. At which point, we can only hope that he’ll tell us. Until then, this isn’t close to being over. Your husband can’t stop this. The recording says it all, we have no reason to believe otherwise. You and Chase are very much in danger until we can find out who the contract killer is and stop them.”

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