I’d listened to Ghost, promised to be safer in the future, and then offered to pay him whatever he wanted to kill William Adams.It was the only way.Not only to wrest Evie free of him, but to protect the people William exploited every day, the victims he trafficked.
We’d gone from an encrypted online chat to meeting in person at a café on Melrose to William being dead—of natural causes—in less than two days.Thirty-nine hours after I received the first message Ghost sent, my sister was free.
To my surprise, Ghost only took one hundred thousand, even though I was sure he could have emptied all my accounts with a few clicks.The money, he said, was more to ensure my silence about our connection.It was his leverage in case I ever decided to spill the beans to any law enforcement.
I hadn’t seen him since that single in-person meeting.When Reid and I’d been walking across Hannigans’ parking lot the night before, I thought I’d caught a glimpse of him.But I had quickly reassured myself it wasn’t Ghost.It couldn’t possibly be.
Wrong.So, so wrong.
“What fight?”Sammy scoffed.“The name-calling and minor hair-pulling?That’s not a fight.No one bled.I doubt anyone broke a sweat until you stomped in here throwing testosterone around.”
“That one was rude to my wife,” Ghost said coolly.
Rory, Jos, and Mila were all tense as they watched the other three.Not so much in fear, but…caution.Rory, flushed with temper only moments before, paled and inched closer to the counter.No, she might have been a little scared.I almost smirked, but I stopped myself.
Nothing about this moment was funny.I shouldn’t know who Ghost was—or what he was capable of.From the way Rory gulped, I was certain she was just as aware of his abilities as I was.
Wait, he saidwife.
As in Abi.
My sister’s new friend was married to our father’s assassin.
And Evie had no clue.
What the fuck had I gotten us into?
“You two are giving me heartburn,” Abi complained, rolling her eyes.Affection was thick in her voice even as she scolded them.“You realize you’re both ridiculous, right?Not every minute of the day, but a good fraction of it.Let a girl breathe, damn.”
While she teased and made them grumble, my mind was in chaos.
Why had I picked Creswell Springs to settle down in?I racked my brain, trying to find the trigger that had put the small town on my radar.
Trinity University.
It was prestigious and ticked all our boxes.Small town, below-average crime rate, nice scenery.The school itself hadn’t been on my initial list of places to start over with my twin.There had been something that had sent me into research mode.
An advertisement?
A junk email?
I couldn’t remember the specifics.It had simply popped up in my feed like other random things did whenever a person thought them into existence.I had a need.Trinity University—and Creswell Springs by extension—filled those needs.
Was it a coincidence that we’d ended up in the same town where the hit man I’d hired apparently lived?
It didn’t make sense.
I met Ghost in LA.William lived in Seattle.The connections were few and far between.
Only…
Ghost was a dark-web mastermind who happened to be an assassin-for-hire.One who could make a death appear completely natural.There had been a full autopsy, and it had shown William had died of a heart attack.Ghost was absolutely terrifying.
And it looked as if he had baited me into moving near him.
What the fuck!
What the actual fuck?
