Hailey paused, letting him get a few steps ahead on the path. The door to the warehouse looked as daunting as the building itself; heavy and metal, with a peephole slot halfway up that could be opened from the inside. There was still time to get away from this; to walk away and forget that she’d ever met this ex-con or seen a Polaroid of that stolen painting. She still had that small fortune in Encore chips in her purse, which her roommate could change in for her, and even if her face was on a surveillance tape at the casino, it wasn’t a sure thing they’d connect her to the murder. The cops were probably already scouring the city for Nick, a guy with a prison record who had actually been in contact with the murder victim.

Only Hailey knew that he was innocent of the murder. Not innocent, of course, but he hadn’t killed Jimmy the Lip, and for that, she was indeed his alibi. But she wasn’t going to pretend she had followed Nick to South Boston to keep him from a murder rap. At the diner, they’d come to an agreement; once they’d retrieved the paintings, they’d find a way to return them for that reward. Nick and his associates would get the lion’s share, but there would be enough left over to keep her off the blackjack tables for many years. Nick was right; she, like all the rest, was there to get paid.

“Circle of life,” she said, then followed him the rest of the way to the door.

Nick didn’t respond, because he’d gotten there first. His body had gone strangely stiff, which made Hailey’s chest tight. When she got next to him, she saw what he was looking at—three bullet holes in the rusted locking mechanism; the metal closest to the door’s frame had buckled inward, where it appeared that someone had pushed their way in, hard and fast.

“This doesn’t look good,” Nick whispered.

He glanced behind them; the alley seemed deserted, and save for the odd seagull, devoid of motion.

“What do we do?” Hailey whispered back, fear rising inside of her.

“The smart thing to do would be to get the hell out of here,” Nick responded.

Instead, he set his jaw, pushed the door open, and headed inside.

Bad decisions, compounded.

Hailey took a deep breath and followed.

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven