Fool Me Once(93)

He used his hand to shade the sunset from his eyes. “I love you too, Maya.”

She got into the car and started for Paterson.





Chapter 32


She found Hector’s Dodge Ram in a parking lot of a high-rise on Fulton Street in Paterson.

Maya parked on the street and walked past the gate. She checked the Dodge Ram’s doors, hoping one might be unlocked. No luck. She debated what to do. There was no way to find out where Hector was in the building. She also didn’t know if he was with Isabella or not. It was too late to care about that. Her goal now was simple.

She would make Hector tell her where Isabella was.

So Maya got back in her car and waited. She kept her eyes on the high-rise entrance, shifting her gaze every once in a while to Hector’s pickup in case he came toward it from another direction. Half an hour passed. She wished that she had some kind of Internet access—she wanted to see if Corey, as she expected, had started to post some details about EAC Pharmaceuticals—but her cell phone was smashed and the throwaways only had phone and texting service. She bet that he had. It would explain the attempted kidnapping. Corey had posted parts of the story, and now someone, probably a Burkett, was trying to clean up any loose ends.

Hector appeared at the door.

Maya already had the gun out of her holster. Hector lifted his key fob and pressed the button. The truck lights blinked, unlocking the door. Hector looked troubled, but then again, this was not a man who often looked relaxed or happy.

Maya’s plan was pretty simple. Follow Hector to his car. Sneak up on him. Stick the gun in his face. Make him take her to Isabella.

It wasn’t exactly a subtle plan, but there was no time for that.

But as Maya started toward him, coming toward him from the truck’s rear, she realized that that might not be necessary.

Isabella walked out of the entrance too.

Bingo.

Maya ducked behind a car. So now what? Did she wait for Hector to leave before making her move? If she stuck a gun in Isabella’s face with Hector still there, how would he react? Not well, she imagined. He had a mobile phone. He could call for help or shout or . . . mess it up somehow.

No, Maya would have to wait for him to leave.

Hector slid into his truck. Staying low, Maya moved a car closer. She kept the gun out of sight. She hoped that nobody would see her skulking about, but if they did, it would only arouse suspicion, not confirm it. She doubted that they would call the cops, but that was a chance she’d have to take.

Isabella veered to her left.

Wait, hold up.

Maya had thought Isabella had come out to wave good-bye or maybe have a last word with her brother through his truck window. But that wasn’t the case.

Isabella was getting in on the passenger side of the truck.

Maya had two choices here. One, go back to her car and follow them. She would seriously consider doing just that, following the truck, but she was afraid that she’d lose them, and without her cell phone, she could no longer track them.

Two . . .

Enough.

She hurried to the truck, flung open the back door, slid in, and placed the muzzle of the gun at the back of Hector’s head.

“Hands on the wheel.” Then, pointing the gun at Isabella before returning it to Hector’s skull: “You too, Isabella. Hands on the dashboard.”

Both stared at her in shock for a moment.

“Now.”

They slowly moved their hands to where she wanted. Remembering how she had underestimated Isabella the last time they tangoed, Maya reached forward and grabbed Isabella’s pocketbook. She peered inside.

Yep, there was pepper spray as well as her mobile phone.

Hector’s mobile was in the cup holder. Maya grabbed it and threw it in Isabella’s bag. She wondered whether Hector was carrying. Keeping the gun on him, she quickly patted him down in the obvious places. Nothing. She grabbed the truck’s key and put it in the same bag too. She dropped the bag on the floor in front of her, and that was when she saw something that made her pull up.

It was a color that caught her eye . . .

“What do you want?” Isabella asked.

There was a pile of clothes on the floor behind the driver’s seat.

“You can’t just put a gun—”

“Shut up,” Maya said. “If you so much as breathe, I’ll blow Hector’s head off.”

There was a gray sweatshirt on the top of the pile. She pushed it away with her foot. And there, coming into view so clear she almost pulled the trigger in rage, was a too-familiar forest green button-down shirt.


*

“Talk,” Maya said.

Isabella glared at her.

“Last chance.”

“I have nothing to say.”

Maya started talking instead. “Hector’s about Joe’s height and build. So I assume he played the part of Joe in your video? You let him into the house. He acted out the scene. Lily knew Hector. She would go to him willingly. Then you just got a videotape of Joe’s face from . . .” That smile. The one he flashed on the video. “My God, was that from our wedding video?”

“We have nothing to say to you,” Isabella said. “You won’t kill us.”

Enough. Gripping the gun harder, Maya brought the metal butt down hard on Hector’s nose. The break was audible. Hector howled. Blood seeped through his fingers.