Right Through Me (The Obsidian Files #1)(56)

Minutes ticked on. Nine twelve. Nine-nineteen. Nine twenty-eight.

At nine forty-one, she saw the slight figure huddled in the entrance wearing a drab raincoat. She was shrouded by her big hood, but Caro caught a glimpse of a pale, anxious face and lank black hair. Caro waved and the woman approached warily.

“Were you followed?” Bea demanded.

“Not as far as I could see,” Caro replied. “Thanks for coming.”

“I was across the street for a while,” Bea said. “Wasn’t sure if it was a trap.”

“It isn’t. Want some coffee? Something to eat? The cinnamon rolls look good.”

“No. I can’t seem to eat much,” Bea said. “Not since . . . you know. Luke.”

“I know,” Caro said. “Me, neither. There’s a brick wall in my stomach.”

“Yeah, exactly.” Bea slid into the chair, perching on the edge. Her nervous gaze darted around the room. “Todd keeps asking me about you,” she muttered. “I think he’s afraid I’m into drugs or that I embezzled money. I wish it was that simple.”

“Tell me,” Caro urged. “Tell me about the footage. Please.”

Bea pressed her lips together for a second. “I haven’t talked about it to anyone.”

“You mentioned video footage yesterday evening, before Todd interrupted us,” Caro said. “Tell me more about that.”

Bea rubbed her mouth and took a moment to gather her thoughts. She looked like she was struggling to concentrate. “Luke was doing security in Chicago,” she said in a low voice. “His boss had a meeting that got changed to a new hotel at the last minute. I remember Luke bitching about that over breakfast, saying it wasn’t safe. He brought a wireless camera to record the meeting, like he always did. He’d given me a fresh password that would give me access to his remote server if anything happened to him.”

She let out a bitter laugh. Caro tried to stay calm.

“I remember thinking how silly and paranoid that was,” Bea went on. “He changed the password every day, and I was supposed to give the latest one to his brother if anything happened to him. Then he disappeared, and they found his boss’s body with a bullet in his head. So I retrieved the video.”

“Did you watch it?”

“Yes.” Bea pulled a tissue from her pocket and dabbed at her nose, her gaze still darting around. She was clearly reluctant to go on. “I never believed in supernatural bullshit in my life,” she said under her breath. “Thought it was total crap. But I saw that guy say a few words and freeze Luke. As if it were a spell. He couldn’t move.”

Caro pondered that. “Could he have been drugged?”

Bea shook her head. “I know what I saw. This guy shot Luke’s boss right in front of his face. Taunted him. Some guys came in, put Luke in a box and carried him off. Luke knew every kind of martial art there is, and he couldn’t even move.”

“You never gave that last password to his brother?”

“No. I didn’t have the nerve. His brother might have given it to the cops.” Bea’s tone was defensive. “That would be like begging for that guy to catch me and kill me. He has to be watching Luke’s family.”

“But this video proves that Luke is innocent and Mark is guilty, right? Why the hell not take it to the police? Let them stop him.”

Bea shook her head. “I’m telling you. It would be suicide. My apartment was robbed a few days after, and my electronics were taken, so I know he’s looking for that video. I just happened to have the flash drive in my purse that day because I was afraid to leave it.” She stared around the room again. “I’ve been hiding ever since. But if you can find me, he can, too. Maybe you led him right to me.”

Caro ignored that. No need to feed the woman’s paranoia. “Can I copy what’s on it?”

“I don’t carry it around with me,” Bea snapped. “I sent it to the lake.”

“The lake? What lake?” Frustration put an edge in Caro’s voice.

Bea shook her head. “I can’t help you. I’m having a hard enough time as it is.”

“We could work together,” Caro urged. “He killed my friends. I want justice for them. I need help. So do you. Let’s help each other.”

Bea rubbed her mouth. “You don’t understand. There’s something, I don’t know, almost supernatural about that guy. Prison can’t hold him. We would never be safe.”

“Maybe not.” Caro hesitated for a long moment. “So let’s kill him.”

Bea’s fidgeting suddenly stilled. She was dead silent for a long moment.

“Seriously?” she whispered. “Do you have a death wish?”

“Nope,” Caro said. “Just tired of being afraid. I want him gone. If this is the only way . . .” She shrugged. “Do we really have that much to lose?”

The other woman edged back in her chair. “Are you crazy?”

“Maybe,” Caro said. “I don’t much care, at this point. Are you in?”

Bea’s shadowed eyes were full of fear and reluctant longing. “I think you’re f*cking nuts, and you’re going to get me killed.”

“We’ve both survived this long,” Caro said. “Give yourself credit.”