Behind the Lies (Montgomery Justice #2)(21)

Until now.

Brad didn’t like the unexpected.

So, what had changed?

With a quick swing, he dropped into his self-indulgent neighbor’s yard.

The man was never here. A waste.

The space appeared different from this angle. What would Jenna see? What would she do? He put himself in tracking mode and studied the surroundings carefully. A house with a security system. Similar to theirs, but Jenna knew nothing of electronics or surveillance. She’d barely graduated high school.

She would have needed to check her or Sam’s injury from the wall. Brad’s gaze stopped at the pool. Towels, perhaps bandages.

He strode to the small building off the flagstone deck. The door had been locked.

This time when he tried the knob, it opened easily.

There, on the stone, a drop of blood pooled on the uneven surface. An empty water bottle and juice box had been tossed in the trash can.

Apple.

The same apple juice that Jenna kept in the refrigerator.

He slugged the wall; his fist broke through, leaving a hole inside the building. She’d been inches from him all the time.

His gaze lit on the cash lying on the table, and he stilled. He thumbed through the money. Over a thousand dollars. Thrown down as if it were nothing.

Not his Jenna. She grew up scraping by.

Zach Montgomery’s face filtered in his vision. The bastard had known.

He was an actor. He lied for a living.

No one else would have left the money here. The truth sliced through Brad. Had he underestimated his neighbor? Brad pulled his cell phone from his pocket. He pressed a key.

“Johansson.”

“Find out everything you can about Zach Montgomery.”

“The actor?”

“I want the data tonight.” Brad ended the call. He had other research to do. He had to figure out whom Jenna had contacted, and what she knew.

His identity had been compromised. He would plug the leaks and then begin again. He’d done it once.

His son…he hadn’t planned on that small wrinkle. But he could find another woman to raise his son. And do a proper job this time.

A simple plan. Once he found Jenna and the evidence his FBI mole had warned him about, she would have to die.

His phone rang. He glanced at the number. His eye flinched with the tick that only appeared when one person called.

The moment he’d agreed to the first job, he’d regretted it. Too many loose ends. He’d been right. Until today when Jenna had left him, this client had been the only person over whom he had no leverage.

“Walters.”

“I have another job for you. There’s been a development.”

“I’m booked.” He peered into Montgomery’s house. He would search the premises.

“A follow-up to the Colorado job from five years ago. Questions are being asked. I want them silenced. I want you in Denver tonight. Your target won’t be easy.”

“That’s what you said about the last one.”

“Well, this is a SWAT captain. John Garrison.”

“My price just went up fifty percent. Half now. Half on completion.”

“If you can do it within the week, I’ll double the payment.”

Brad flicked his thumb against his pinky. It was a risk, but the fat paycheck would help his transition to his new identity. He couldn’t allow questions to remain about the Colorado job. He had a reputation. Besides, Jenna’s betrayal had made him vulnerable.

“Done. Send the particulars to the same location.”

“No mistakes.”

Brad chuckled and brushed imaginary dirt from the perfectly pressed cuff of his shirt. “I don’t make mistakes or leave a trail that can be followed.”

“Don’t challenge me too boldly, Walters. You wouldn’t want me for an enemy. I would think the last eighteen months had taught you that.”

The call ended. Brad’s fingernails bit into his palm.

Too many loose threads. Not enough control. Unacceptable. He could hear his father’s voice berating him from the grave. Fool, pathetic weakling, wimp.

He would trim all the loose ends. He’d use every set of skills to make sure no one would be left who could identify him.

No one except his son.





* * *





Chapter Five




* * *





SAM!

Her son’s name filtered into Jenna’s foggy mind. She blinked. Pain from the bump on her head dug into her like a knight’s sword.

Where was she? She cracked open her eyes. The sun burned into her through the car’s windshield. She couldn’t stand the light. The supple leather of the luxury seats cradled her body, yet the interior pressed on her heavy with heat. What had happened? Whose car was this?

The memory slammed into her. The truck. The cliff.

Sam.

Her pained gaze found his slight frame hovering far too close to the edge of the road.

“Don’t move, Sam.” Was that her shaking, weak voice?

Her heart stuttered. She had to get to her son. Jenna rolled to her side, but her entire body felt weighted down. She reached out her hand toward him. “Sam,” she called, her voice barely working.

Then she saw him. Zach Montgomery. Sam’s Dark Avenger raced across the road.