“I can’t do this. I can’t be with you if I don’t know that you’re mine. I know you don’t want to hear it, Aubrey, but I’m not lying. I am in love with you. I felt it the moment we met, in the park. But I won’t share you. With a memory of a man, yes. But not if he’s out there. Not until we figure out what happened to him, once and for all.”
Aubrey hated his words. Hated them and respected them and felt the weight of his resolve. Perhaps she was wrong. Perhaps he was an honorable man. Perhaps not. He’d lied to her. She couldn’t ever trust him, not really. She wanted to kick and scream and smash his face in and, at the same time, wanted him to hold her and tell her it was all going to be okay. It hurt to think of not being with him. And she didn’t know how to reconcile that with his betrayal.
Chase stood. “I’m going to go,” he said. “I need to see Daisy. But I need to tell you something first.”
“What’s that?”
“The police are watching you and Tyler.”
A small frisson of panic wormed into her stomach. “Why?”
“You know why.”
“The money. Those idiots still think he might come back.”
Chase searched her eyes. “Be careful, Aubrey. No matter what happens now, I don’t want you to get hurt.”
She swallowed hard and nodded.
Chase touched her lightly on the shoulder, then glanced around the house like he knew it was the last time he’d see it. He took a breath and started to say something, then shook his head and left through the front door.
Aubrey closed the door behind him and collapsed against it.
She couldn’t do this anymore. She would go mad. The only thing that would give her a chance to think was a run. She took Winston with her. She didn’t feel safe by herself anymore.
CHAPTER 56
Josh
Five Years Ago
Josh’s plan was simple: a straightforward exchange, a clean double cross. He was going to rob Derek Allen and take him down. And if Allen died in the process, all the better. Josh had finally admitted to himself there were only two ways this could go. Either Allen died, or Josh did.
Josh’s next delivery was expected in a week. The order had been huge, so big that Bob in the pharmacy shook his head and said it was impossible. But he always said that, and always delivered. This time, in addition to the pills, Allen wanted prescription pads. Which really put Josh on the spot. Sneaking around the hospital stealing prescription pads was dangerous as hell. But he would do it, because the more ammunition he had, the better.
Allen was going into business with a new cartel, and this score was his buy-in. They were paying him a load of money, and he’d turn over all the goods in exchange for the cash. And Josh would take that money, and the score, right out from under his nose.
Josh knew it was stupid. He knew it was a massive gamble.
But the idea that he’d be free was intoxicating. Kill two birds with one stone—get Allen off his back and get out from under the blackmail. Start his life with Aubrey anew. Finish his schooling and go do some good for a change.
? ? ?
Josh kept to his schedule, his plan. When Allen called the meeting, he hung up the phone and told Aubrey he was pulling an extra shift at the morgue.
And Aubrey, sweet, loving, kind Aubrey, smiled and fixed him a sack lunch so he’d have some fuel besides coffee to sustain him overnight.
Josh drove the Audi to the river, looking vainly in the mirror for people following him. He didn’t know if he could make yet another week like this, pretending, living a charade, not being honest with anyone, including himself.
Allen was waiting for him. Every time Josh walked into the warehouse, he was reminded of a scene from one of his favorite movies, Ocean’s Twelve. And the fact that a heist film was one of his favorites wasn’t lost on him. Maybe he had a bit of criminal in him after all. After his father’s escapades, Josh was wondering if it was in his blood. Not this reluctant “can’t believe I’m involved in this” feeling, but the idea that perhaps he was a mastermind in his own right, that he was just like the Night Fox.
No, that wasn’t a good comparison. The Night Fox was a dupe. He fell for the long con and lost everything—his reputation most of all.
Though maybe it was a perfect comparison after all. Josh had allowed himself to be duped by Allen from the get-go.
The staging area, as Allen liked to call it, was a card table with a large paper map of Nashville spread on it. Allen held a pointer in his hand. He watched Josh walk to the table. Josh felt like sticking a finger in his collar and loosening it. His throat stuck, and sweat bloomed across his forehead.
He knows. He knows. He knows I’m going to screw him.
Son of a bitch.
He was fucked.
Allen gave a mock bow. “Nice of you to finally show up.”
Josh crossed his arms over his chest and shrugged. Didn’t offer any more. He’d learned the hard way: all Allen needed was a little ammunition. An excuse would do nothing but make the man attack.
Allen stared at him again, long and hard.
“We have an issue.”
Josh just raised an eyebrow. Nonchalant. Uncaring. Inside his guts were twisting and his mind was screaming. He was going to die. He could just feel it.