Then she clapped her hands in front of Adam’s face and ordered him to follow her to Gabriel’s office – not so much because she wanted or needed his help but because she didn’t fully trust him not to do something stupid. After hacking into Gabriel’s security system to erase any evidence of her presence, she’d upended that room and had found nothing, not even the keys to his private practice. Pissed, she’d continued her reign of destruction in the bedroom for no other reason than she wanted to.

Back in the kitchen, she’d rotated in a circle, her eyes searching high and low for anything that might implicate her. That was when she’d spotted Gabriel’s and Lydia’s phones lying near their bodies. Careful to avoid the blood, she snatched both up, powered them down, and shoved them into her front pocket. And then she’d squeezed her grip around a still-stunned Adam and dragged him outside where she proceeded to shove him into the cab of her truck. When she was sure he wasn’t going to bolt back out, she moved around to the driver’s side, climbed in, and then meandered the streets until she came across a ditch bank. Without even slowing, she lobbed both phones out the window and into the water. She knew the last place they’d ping would be the Kensington house, so the chances of locating them now were slim to none. She had no idea what kind of information he’d had on that device, and she couldn’t risk finding out the hard way.

Throughout it all, Adam rocked slowly back and forth, mumbling, ripping handfuls of his hair out. For the most part, she’d tuned him out. That is, until he said, ‘What if we left something behind, something that proves you killed them?’

She’d slammed on her brakes, jerking them both forward as they lurched to a dead stop. His face paled to an impressive shade of white she’d never before seen. In her most cajoling tone, she said, ‘Don’t I always take care of everything, Adam? All you need to do right now is go home, take a shower, and get some sleep. Leave the rest up to me.’

After making sure he was safely inside his house, she left, already scheming his ‘accidental’ demise.

But before she could set her new plan in motion, he’d gone and screwed everything to hell and back. Elizabeth Monroe may have been the impetus that started this ball rolling, but Adam had made it infinitely worse.

And now it was time for her to adjust her strategy. She picked up the object she’d recently ‘borrowed,’ and threw her head back, laughing.

This would almost be worth Adam’s screw-up.

Almost.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Sunday, October 6