Best Laid Plans(57)

Until Lucy.

She gave him a purpose in life he’d never had before. Her compassion and vision, her drive and determination … they empowered him. She made him a better person. He looked at her and melted.

He’d known from the beginning that it wasn’t going to be easy to pull Lucy out of her icy shell and show her the world beyond her work. But he had—very successfully. She laughed and enjoyed the small things that she’d never noticed when they first met. Like ice skating and Disney movies and eating ice cream on cold winter days.

Keep my girl smiling.

It was the voice of Lucy’s father, when he’d given his blessing upon learning they were moving in together.

That’s what had been missing for the last two months. Lucy hadn’t smiled as often. She hadn’t laughed as much. She’d retreated inside again, the nightmares drowning her. And she wouldn’t talk to him about it. She talked around it, or distracted him, but she never really told him what they were about.

And then today … something had happened with this Mona Hill.

Sean stood and walked down the hall to his office. He hesitated briefly at the bottom of the stairs, wanting to go to Lucy, to kiss her, to tell her he didn’t want to go to sleep with this hanging over them.

But instead, he went into his office, shut the door, and started a very deep—probably illegal—background check on Mona Hill.

*



Mona Hill had built her career around one thing: people. No one could keep a secret from her. No one could lie to her. She always found out. Those who knew her feared her, starting from when she was a young teenager playing cons, running drugs, and selling girls. She’d learned to use that fear to maintain complete control of every situation.

It pleased her that she’d been right about this one. The feds were a little faster than she’d expected, but they came asking the right questions.

She called her contact. His name was Jay. That was all she knew—his first name and how to reach him. She’d met him once. He was all muscle and did what he was told. But that didn’t mean he was stupid.

Mona did not underestimate the people she took jobs from. That would be the fastest way to the grave.

“Tell your boss that the feds came knocking today,” she said.

“And?”

“They have her name but nothing else. Should I move forward with the plan?”

“Do it tonight.”

“We’d originally agreed tomorrow night. Why the change?”

“That is none of your business, Ms. Hill.”

She bristled, but didn’t say a word. She didn’t want to admit that she was scared of these people; rather, she’d simply say that she had a healthy respect for their methods. She knew more about their plans than they realized, but not enough about their plans to be confident she knew everything. And she wasn’t quite sure who was in charge.

All she knew about the boss was that he had a particularly sick fetish. She’d procured girls for him on several occasions, and they’d never been seen again. She wasn’t particularly concerned … She gave him girls who wouldn’t be missed. If she’d had a conscience, it would bother her.

But he paid extremely well, and when one of her girls got out of line … Well, she needed to be punished. Apparently, the boss was extremely proficient in the art of punishment.

And one thing that Mona had learned in her business was that men with an insatiable obsession—any obsession—were rarely in charge.

There were, of course, exceptions. Which was why Mona danced the waltz with Jay. She’d let him have the pick of her litter, so to speak, and he liked one girl particularly well. He didn’t hurt her, so Teresa was happy to give away a freebie every week in exchange for a reduction in rent. Besides, Mona could not afford to make an enemy of anyone with power. Judging from the way they’d taken out Harper Worthington and set the dominos in motion, she thought that their plan might actually work. If it did … she’d know for certain whose good side to remain on.

She almost didn’t tell Jay what she had, but at the last moment, before he hung up, she said, “I have some information that may be valuable.”

“We’ve already paid you for your assistance.” He was angry. No one liked getting a bill for services they’d already paid for.

“This is something completely new. I’ll send you a sample. You can let me know what you want me to do with it.”

“You had better not be wasting my time, Ms. Hill.”

“I assure you, this will be worth every second.”

She hung up with a smile. She sent Jay a ten-second video clip and waited. Almost immediately, he called her back.

“Is that doctored?”

“No.”

“Is that all you have?”

“I told you, it’s just a taste. I have a full seven minutes.”

“I’ll let you know what to do with it.”

“It’ll cost you.”

“How much?”

“It’s negotiable. Think about it while you replay that clip.” She hung up again and laughed.





CHAPTER EIGHTEEN



Lucy was angry—at herself, at Sean, at the world. Though Sean was downstairs, she felt alone and isolated in their bedroom.