Indecent Danger (Danger Incorporated #3)(61)

But Alana and Tom? That was an entirely different matter.

“So what do we do now? We can’t prove any of this and Prather thinks Martin is guilty. I doubt we can get him to look elsewhere by talking about gut feelings and crappy alibis.”


“Let’s go talk to Caroline.” Travis shoved his cell in his pocket along with his key card. “Maybe she can shed some light on the relationship between Tom and Alana.”

What they needed was hard proof.





Chapter Thirty-One




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“Tom, what are you doing?” Caroline’s voice came out as barely a whisper but he heard her anyway.

“This wasn’t supposed to happen. You weren’t supposed to be here and find me. Now that you have I need time to think.”

Tom tapped his forehead with the gun, a frown on his boyishly handsome face.

He could take all the time in the world to think things over. In the meantime, Aubrey wasn’t going to go down without a fight. She liked being on this end of a gun for the second time even less than the first. “Put the gun down, Tom. Don’t do something you’re going to regret for a long time after this.”

Tom didn’t react as she expected him to. Instead of arguing and brandishing his weapon, he threw back his head and laughed loudly, almost hysterically. “The time for regrets has already passed. I’ve come too far to turn back now. The only problem is that Caro shouldn’t have been here. I’ve been trying to protect her from all this.”

“Protect me from what, Tom?”

Carole had taken a tentative step closer to the gun wielding man.

Tom scowled but didn’t lower his arm an inch, the muzzle still pointed directly at Caroline’s heart.

“From Bruce. He wasn’t good for you, Caro, but you wouldn’t leave. So I got rid of him for you. But I never wanted you to know.”

The blonde’s mouth fell open in shock. “You killed Bruce?”

Tom took a step back to lean his hip against the sofa table. “Not personally, no.”

Not personally? Then who did?

“Did you kill Iris?” Aubrey piped up, her palms sweating with fear. The only thing she knew to do was to keep him talking as long as possible until she saw a chance to get the gun. Her gaze darted around the room looking for the easiest way to escape.

Her back was to the entrance to the suite. Too far to try to outrun a man with much longer legs and arm reach. The room opened up to the sweeping patio but they were eight stories up. It was way too far to even contemplate jumping to safety, and she wasn’t in the kind of shape that would allow her to climb down the balconies. No, that exit wasn’t viable.

The expansive marble bathroom was behind Tom and perhaps she and Caroline could somehow sprint around him and lock themselves in, hiding behind the linen closet and the marble walls of the shower. It wasn’t bulletproof but it was a better chance than they stood out here in the open with nothing between them and a gun.

It still wasn’t ideal. In fact, that plan sucked because she couldn’t see how they were going to get to the bathroom in the first place. Cause a diversion maybe?

But if they did, then the best play was probably to get his gun while he was distracted. It was what tipped the balance of power in his favor.

“Iris knew too much and was becoming a problem.” There was a gleam in his eye that hadn’t been there before, almost as if he was relishing the memory. “Alana too.”

Caroline pressed a palm to her forehead. “Alana knew what was going on? Did everyone know but me?”

“Not at all.” Tom waved the gun in a downward motion. “And keep your hands to your sides. No, not everyone knew. Alana wanted Martin’s money and was willing to frame him for murder to get it. But she also thinks that she and I are going to ride off into the sunset together. That was not the plan.”

“But you let her believe that,” prodded Aubrey, trickles of sweat running down her back. “And Iris too perhaps?”

She remembered how Iris had spoken about a handsome boyfriend. Could she have been talking about Tom and not Bruce?

“I can’t help what women believe.”

Damn, he was one stone cold bastard and Aubrey had been up close and personal to another one – Alan Morton. But this guy didn’t seem as delusional as Alan had. Tom was more calculating and methodical, eliminating threats one by one until he held all the cards.

Scary as hell to think people like this walked around looking normal.

Caroline’s spine straightened even as the tension in the air grew thick. “So what now? Are you going to kill us too?”

Tom shook his head, frustration in the set of his shoulders. “I did all this for you. For us. But now it’s all ruined. You’ve left me with few choices.”

“The police think I might have done this.” Caroline’s lips pressed together angrily. “You could get me thrown in prison.”


Tom stepped forward, causing the two women to retreat from his stormy gaze. “That wasn’t supposed to happen. That’s why I’m here. To plant the murder weapon and pills in Alana’s room. Then all I would have had to do is call in an anonymous tip to the cops and they would come and find it. Then Alana would be joining her husband in prison while you and I spend the money. But I guess now I’ll have to hold on to her.”