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I’d hidden the files of papers and the briefcase, together with Paul’s gun, beneath my bed.
It was morning now, and time was running out. Even if my father didn’t look in the safe today, someone was going to start asking after Paul. I doubted anyone would go into the roof space and find the body, but his disappearance was going to look suspicious.
I needed to go through the papers I’d taken and get the briefcase open. I still didn’t know if it would contain anything useful, but it had been locked up inside a safe, inside a locked room for a reason, and I needed to check.
Trouble was that the compound was awake now, and I would be missed if I didn’t carry on as usual. I needed time to go through everything, and it was time I didn’t have.
I went down and ate breakfast, avoiding eye contact with anyone. I’d killed Paul, and I felt like I had the truth of what I’d done written all over me. I knew people were going to start asking questions about his whereabout sooner rather than later, and I prayed my guilt didn’t show up on my face. I wasn’t a killer—or at least I hadn’t been—but I knew now that I had it in me to do whatever it took.
Shortly after breakfast, my father caught up with me.
“Angelo? Have you seen Paul?”
I’d known it was coming, but still my stomach sank.
I shook my head. “No. Not since yesterday.”
“The asshole has done a runner. No one’s seen him since last night.”
I frowned. “Are all the women here?”
I wanted to divert attention from myself, giving Paul a reason for wanting to run. As I’d learned for myself, the main reason anyone fucked up around here was because of the women. Seemed everyone but my father was capable of losing his head over a girl.
“Yeah, all present and accounted for.” He paused and twisted his lips as he thought. “His phone is dead, too.”
“But his car is here,” I pointed out.
“So, he must be on foot, or he had someone pick him up during the night. He’d better not have betrayed me, or I’ll make him pay for it.” Silas Cassidy’s voice was hard with anger.
“Who else was on guard last night? Did they not hear anything?”
He shook his head. “It was Rufus, and no, he said he didn’t hear a thing, but my guess is that the son-of-a-bitch was sleeping on the job.”
I thought he was probably right since Rufus hadn’t heard my tussle with Paul or the racket I must have made hiding the body.
He hesitated. Was he wondering if he could trust me yet or not?
“I’m going to take the rest of the men out and see if there’s anything suspicious in the surrounding area—tire tracks or some sign that someone was here who shouldn’t have been. I assume I can at least leave you to watch over the women.”
I nodded, keeping my expression serious. “Of course.”
He jabbed a finger in my direction. “Don’t disappoint me, Angelo.”
I almost wanted to laugh. If only he knew just how much I planned on letting him down. But I didn’t even care anymore. The man he had molded me into no longer existed. The framework for that man had shattered the night I’d run with Catalina, and when Torres had taken her, I’d had to rebuild it into something different again. Any love or respect or loyalty I felt toward this man was gone. Now, at my heart, I felt only a cold hatred.
He pursed his lips. “Good. We won’t be gone long, and we’ll be close by. I have the keys to the vehicles, so don’t get any ideas.”
I had Paul’s car keys in my room, but I hadn’t yet discovered where Catalina was. Besides, I couldn’t just drive off, even if I did know. My father would notice me gone and alert Torres immediately. I wasn’t going to put Catalina’s safety at risk.
Them being away from the compound would allow me time to go through the items I’d taken from the office, however, and that was a gift in itself.
“I’ll make sure everything runs smoothly while you’re gone,” I replied.
“The gates will be locked behind us, too.”
“Naturally.” I ducked my head in a nod.
I wanted them to leave so I could get on with what I needed to do. I’d never intended to kill Paul, but it seemed his death was going to buy me some much-needed time.
I sensed the gazes of some of the women on me, silent questions about what was happening in their eyes. I couldn’t tell them anything, of course. I needed to act as normal as possible.
“Go back in your rooms,” I shouted at them, “and stay there.”
My father nodded, seemingly approving of my display. He motioned to Bruno and Rufus to leave, to search the surrounding grounds for some sign to tell them what had happened to Paul. I knew they wouldn’t find anything. Paul was much closer to home.
I waited for them to pull the gates shut behind them, locking us all in. Not that it mattered to me.
Quickly, I turned from the courtyard and marched back through the house. Perhaps I should have felt worse about taking Paul’s life, but I knew what kind of man he was. He was no better than my father. I rid the world of another rodent, that was all.
I reached my room and quickly bent to pull everything out from beneath the bed.
I flicked through the folders of papers, my gaze flitting up and down each sheet. They were invoices, bank transfers. All important paperwork.
I stopped suddenly. Catalina’s name. A courier company.
The date was a couple of weeks before she’d been due to leave the compound. It seemed my father had sent something for her to have at Torres’s place with her. Had it been something personal, perhaps? Or just some clothes so she’d have had something familiar there for her when she arrived? The invoice only had that it was a package to be delivered, not the actual items. My stomach twisted strangely. I thought she’d been sent with nothing, but my father had planned ahead to make sure she had something of her own there. However badly he’d treated her by selling her to a man like Torres and sending her away, a small part of him had cared about her comfort.
Of course, I doubted Catalina would have been given whatever gifts he’d sent for her, not now that we’d betrayed both him and Torres. I didn’t think Catalina would have been rewarded with many comforts at all.
My heart beat hard, almost unable to believe I might have found what I was looking for. The address was several hours’ drive from here.
I stared at the address, committing it to memory, and then folded the piece of paper and tucked it into my pocket. Should I put the paperwork back in the safe? Now I had the address, I didn’t intend to stay here much longer.
I caught sight of the briefcase from the corner of my eye. What was inside it?
Rolling my thumb along the combination lock, I changed the numbers to the ones I’d previously tried that had given me access to the safe. None of them worked.
“Fuck it.”
I no longer cared about being subtle. Reaching into my bedside drawer, I fished around among all the old coins, pieces of paper, old chargers, and numerous other random items until I found what I was looking for—and old penknife I’d had since childhood. I set the case in my lap and set to work jimmying off the combination lock.
It took some time, but eventually the lock gave way and the case fell open. My mouth dropped. The inside of the case was lined with wrapped bundles of hundred-dollar bills.
My mind whirred, trying to figure out what to do next.
Gates banged open, and a shout came from the yard. Shit. I was out of time.
Hurriedly, I shoved everything back under the bed and hoped no one would come looking.
I had Catalina’s location, money, a gun, and access to a car. Everything was lining up. The one issue I had was my father seeing me leaving or noticing I was gone right away, and calling Torres to tell him I was on my way.
I needed to wait until nightfall, but even then, I doubted I’d be able to get through the gates without anyone noticing. What I really needed was a distraction—something that would keep all of them occupied while I made my escape. But until I figured out what that was going to be, I needed to act like everything was normal. Or as normal as things could be around here.
Running back through the house, hoping to look as though I’d been hanging out on the ground floor the whole time, I relaxed my shoulders and caught my breath, forcing myself to breathe normally.
“Any sign?” I called out to my father as I sauntered out from the house.
“Nope. Nothing. It’s like he’s just vanished in the middle of the night.”
I frowned. “Strange.” I looked to Rufus. “You sure you didn’t see anything last night?”
The other man shot me a scowl. “No. Sure you didn’t?”
I shrugged. “I was dead to the world all night.”
Silas shook his head. “Well, there’s nothing more we can do right now. I’ll put some feelers out and see if anyone has heard anything from him, but otherwise it’s business as normal.”
That was good. It meant he didn’t suspect anything. I just had to keep things that way until I was able to put the next part of my plan into action.