Page 78 of Tempting Devil
But when I entered the living room and kitchen, I found it devoid of life. Maybe he went with Henry to oversee the installation of the new security system at my townhouse.
I started to head back upstairs to grab my phone and text him when a couple of voices caught my attention. My curiosity getting the better of me, I tiptoed toward a partially open door at the end of the hallway.
“What a tragedy. Missing without a trace.”
I paused at the amusement in Samuel’s tone. But there was something else, too. Something dark and sinister.
It was completely out of character for the man I once knew.
For Samuel.
Because this wasn’t Samuel. Despite the connection I thought we shared last night, he was back to being Gideon Saint.
Back to carrying out his plan for revenge.
“It’s not just making headlines in Atlanta, but across the country now,” Henry stated.
“Can you turn it up?”
A female voice filled the room from what I assumed to be a news broadcast. “The police still have no leads on the whereabouts of Brian McGuire, a respected funeral director here in Atlanta. He failed to show up for work on Monday. The last known communication from him was on Sunday afternoon. The police urge anyone with information to reach out.”
I flashed back to everything Gideon shared with me, including the name of the funeral director who patched him up and sold him.
Brian McGuire.
Now, that same man hadn’t been seen or heard from since Sunday.
The same day Gideon approached me at the bar.
Was this the reason he was in Atlanta?
My stomach churned the more I thought about that night.
As I did, one thing in particular stood out in my mind — pushing off his suit jacket and finding blood on it.
I thought he’d hurt himself.
Was it this man’s blood I’d found? How much time had passed between when he killed a man and when he fucked me? An hour? Less?
“What’s the plan? Want to move on James right away?” Henry asked, cutting through my unease.
As much as I wanted to find the nearest bathroom and expel whatever contents were left in my stomach, I was rooted to the spot, unable to put one foot in front of the other.
“Let them sweat for a few more days,” Gideon stated, his voice calculated and cold. “As of right now, Liam still has no idea what James did. He’s freaking out over Imogene’s line of questioning while James is panicking over what the police will uncover once they go through Brian’s files. It’ll probably take them a little longer to learn James was the last person to see him alive. We’ll wait until then to send the recording to every major news outlet in the country.”
“Not the police?”
“The court of public opinion can do infinitely more damage. Plus, this will force the police to take action instead of accepting a bribe to keep quiet about his involvement.”
“And that’s what you want? For the police to get involved?”
There was a pause, and I held my breath, waiting for his answer. A part of me prayed he’d answer in the affirmative. Prayed he still had some decency left.
“I do.”
“Why? You didn’t want the police involved in Alton’s downfall. You insisted on taking care of him yourself.”
“Because Alton’s crimes weren’t that bad. Sure, he was a prick who stole people’s life savings, but James… He’s the reason Jonah was beaten so badly in prison that he turned into a vegetable. I want James to suffer the same fate. After all, he’s a former prosecutor. Pretty sure some of the people he put away would love to get their hands on him.”