“Charisse, I wish I could explain, but I cannot move on with my life. It feels like I’m stuck in the memory of that day. My father, he wasn’t always around, but I know he loved me. And that man took him from me. I can’t just let that sit. It’s like I’m stuck. I can’t move forward.”
“I understand. I do. I just— I think what you’re doing is dangerous, and I worry about you.”
“I appreciate it. But look, right now I’m hidden. No one can see me. No one knows I’m observing them. I’m at his job. I know he goes there every day. I’ve been tracking his movements. His employer of record is Blake Security. These are things I know. I know he has a sister. She’s married to the boss. If I can get a little leverage, then I can guarantee he won’t hurt me.”
The baby in the carrier strapped to Lucia DeMarco waved a fist and then giggled. Diana couldn’t exactly hear it, but she could imagine the sound. And despite herself, a smile tugged at her lips. Lucia DeMarco looked happy. With her handsome husband, smiling at him, walking with friends. Did she know her brother was a killer? Did Noah Blake know what Rafe was capable of?
They look like a family. The pang sliced through her, deep and strong, debilitating enough to make her suck in a short breath. One day. One day you’ll have that.
Yeah, just as soon as she’d dealt with Rafael DeMarco.
She snapped another picture of the guy she didn’t know and then frowned when she zoomed in on the image. He had dots, a series of them on the back of his neck. Just like Rafe did.
What the hell?
She photographed Rafe as usual. She photographed Lucia, but no such dots. But Noah Blake had them too.
What in the ever-loving hell?
“Hello, earth to Diana.”
“Sorry, I just—”
“Diana, you said you were following Rafe. Where exactly are you?”
Diana sank in the seat of her car as if Charisse could see her. “Well, about that—”
“Where are you?” Her bestie was not to be fooled.
“I’m across the street from Blake Security.”
“Oh my God, are you insane?”
“Relax. It’s fine. They can’t see me.”
“They could have cameras.”
“Maybe. But (a) I’m wearing a wig, (b) I’m a tourist taking photos, (c) I keep changing out my rental cars so they don’t notice. I’m fine. I got this handled.”
“I sure hope you know what you’re doing.”
So did Diana. Because if she didn’t, she might end up dead.
Like your father.
Diana started down over the edge of the ravine and swallowed hard as saliva filled her mouth. She hated heights. Heights meant she could fall to her death. But hey, details, right? Besides, the whole plan was for it to look like she’d nearly tumbled to her death. It was times like this that she needed a rational friend to tell her that her plan was crazy. Note to self, make more rational friends. Or hell, any friends. Funny how there wasn’t time for friends when you had revenge on the brain.
Ovary up, bitch. This is the plan.
If she wanted her plan to work, it was going to require sacrifice, which meant getting this car down the fucking ravine and then climbing down herself. Time to put on her big-girl thong.
She gathered up her long blond hair and secured it with a ponytail holder. Time to get to work. She only had a couple of hours. She’d been following Rafe DeMarco every Tuesday for months. This was the path he’d take. It was too late for another plan. Besides she’s been setting this up for months.
She had selected the perfect spot for this. Right before the guardrail began. As an added bonus, there was a path she could use to initially climb down and a rock outcropping she could stand on to wait for him.
She’d scattered broken glass to make it look like an accident. Once the car was in neutral, she jogged around to the trunk and started to push.
Her ribs throbbed. That asshole in krav maga class had forgotten they were training and had gotten in a brutal hit. She’d have bruises for days. But it wasn’t like she could wait to heal up.