Darkness Falls (Darkness Series Book 3) (26 page)

She did, and I checked the time.

Fuck! I should have been there twenty minutes ago!

“I have somewhere to be. I’ll drop you off at the house.”

I left her at the house and hurried to make up for lost time. There he sat in the window of the coffee shop, just like he was instructed to. In his light green dress shirt and jeans. I made sure to tell him to wear certain clothes so he thought I didn’t know his face.

I saw the bus boy out for a smoke. My sunglasses made me look like I stepped out of an eighties band. The black plastic frames with neon green arms paired perfectly with my NKOTB ball hat. With the letter in hand, I hurried over and befriended the boy and paid him fifty to deliver it. He never questioned why I was wearing sunglasses when the sun was barely up. Typical teenager, he most likely thought it was a fashion statement.

The look on Jack Connors’s face when he laid eyes on that letter and photograph was enough for me to snap a few photos with Jims’s camera.

I zoomed in and watched a drip of sweat that traveled from his sideburn to his jaw.
Yes, Jack, you should be very afraid.

As I pulled out of the parking lot, I saw Connors’s car a few yards ahead. I pulled into traffic and followed at a safe distance. I wondered where he was going.

***

Seth

I felt restless. It had been sixteen days since I’d been able to see Emily. At the moment, she was staying with Pete. Campbell began to suspect something when she started to ask questions about me. We didn’t text, call, or even email. It was too risky. Avery hunted around for information, but at this point he seemed to have given up.

As days passed, more questions came into play. Garrett and I had dug into his past, but kept coming up with dead ends. One thing was for sure; Avery’s past stopped when he arrived here in California.

“I’m starving,” Garrett grunted. “I’m calling in our order now, so we don’t have to wait.”

“Good plan.” My phone vibrated against my leg. I pulled it free and saw Agent Crew’s name on the ID.

“Agent Crew.” I looked over at Garrett, who appeared worried and quickly ended the call to the sandwich shop. “What can I do for you?”

“Meet me at The Brew in ten, bring O’Brian.”

The line went dead. I didn’t think twice as I pulled a U-turn and hurried to Huntington Drive.

The Brew was full, but a table off in the corner was empty. We quickly grabbed it and ordered three coffees.

My work t-shirt felt tighter than normal, and my finger ran around the edge to seek any kind of relief.

“There’s Crew.” Garrett nodded toward the door.

Crew took a seat across from us and slammed a heavy folder down in front of us.

“Good news or bad news first?”

“Bad,” Garrett and I both said at the same time.

Crew inched his glasses up his nose with his finger. He opened the folder and twirled a paper around, then he held up a picture of Avery in his uniform.
What?

“Alexander Avery was born in Chicago. After his parents were killed, he lived with his grandmother in Florida until he ran away and went to live with his brother in Chicago. His grandmother passed away the following year.” Crew glanced at me funny, waited a beat, and then kept going. “He joined the Chicago PD, then later transferred to Orange PD. He and his brother lived here until his brother was killed a year ago.”

Garrett shook his head. “I don’t understand where you’re going with this.”

“Who is his brother, and why are you looking into Avery?” I glanced at Garrett, confused, as only four of us suspected Avery of something, and Crew wasn’t one of them.

Crew held up his hand. “Because of his brother.”

“Why? How did his brother die?” I tried to understand.

“Shot.”

“By who?”

Crew leaned in over the table. “By you, Seth.” My stomach sank and my brain scrambled to catch up as he pulled out a picture and turned it around to show me Jimmy Lasko’s face.

“Holy shit.” Garrett covered his mouth. “Avery is Lasko’s brother?”

“Yes,” Crew confirmed as I sank further into my seat. My brain was caught in a loop.

Lasko was Avery’s brother. Avery was Lasko’s brother.

“So,” I said quietly, “the entire time,” I closed my eyes in disbelief, “those six days of hell, Avery must have known where Emily was?”

Crew nodded. “Emily is a dead ringer for their sister Julia.” He pulled another picture free and held up Emily’s twin. “Julia.” He made a face. “It’s sad. She must have been at the wrong place at the wrong time to catch his attention.”

I glanced at Garrett while my stomach rolled. Crew put the picture away and continued.

“Lasko and Avery lived together. After some psychiatric evaluations, they were sent to other family members in Germany and Florida, where they must have changed their names. Lasko must have come back after Julia passed away to find his brother.”

“Why California?” Garrett asked, and I could tell he was still trying to process this crazy shit.

Crew leaned back in his seat. “After a lot of digging, we realized they were watching you, Seth.”

“What?” My head snapped up to look at him. “Me?”

“Yes.” He pulled some more papers from the file. “Looks like your Emily may not have been the original target.”

“Wait, wait,” Garrett held up a hand. “How in the hell did the FBI not know any of this a year ago?”

“After Lasko was killed and a possible lethal injection was put to Hank Wallace, he started talking. He spoke about how Lasko had a brother, but he never met him. Hank mentioned that he bragged once that he could get away with murder because he had someone to cover it up. We started to dig, figured it could be a cop, but it was a stretch. I know every cop has their DNA on file, but it took time before we connected the dots.” Crew hesitated, then seemed to make a decision. “Seth, the brothers were close, and they were after something. I don’t know what yet, but I’ll keep digging. My advice, if you want it, is watch your back and watch your family. Just because Lasko is gone doesn’t mean Emily is out of trouble either. I think you are the target, not her, but if he wants to hurt you—”

“Hurting Emily is the best way,” Garrett finished for him with a grim expression.

What the hell would Avery and Lasko have against me? I wanted to kill Avery with my bare hands. I couldn’t get past the fact that he had known where Emily had been taken…fuck, he had even had a part in it.

“Jesus,” I blurted out, “it was fucking Avery who planted that camera in our hotel room. The one Emily mentioned she saw right before she escaped.”

Garrett cleared his throat. “Anything else you want to share, Crew?”

“Not yet, just that we have two agents tailing him. He’ll slip up soon, and we’ll nail him.”

“Slip up! You know Avery is Lasko’s brother, go arrest him.” I banged my fist on the table.

“On what?” Crew shrugged, unfazed by my outburst. “Can’t arrest someone for being related to a psychopath.” He held up his hands. “Look, we don’t have any proof right now that Avery is guilty of anything. He’s good, he’s careful, he covers his tracks well. If he is up to something, well, everyone slips at some point, and when he does, we’ll book him. But, guys,” Crew rested his elbows on the table, “we have to play this carefully and by the book. We’re talking about bringing down a cop. One fuck up on our end, one leak, one suspicious glance at him, and we’re over. This case will be thrown out. So stay calm, but stay alert.”

“So, what is the good news?” Garrett asked as Crew started to put the papers back into the folder. He stood and pushed in his chair.

“The good news is you know who Avery is and can keep an eye on him. Let’s keep it that way.” He glanced at his watch. “I’ll be in touch. Keep in mind, your phones, computers, anything electronic can and will most likely be tracked. He’s smart, so be smarter.”

With that, he was gone. Garrett and I sat in silence for a few moments. The idea that a trusted friend was connected to our nightmare was a hard thing to comprehend.

***

Avery

Blood drained from my face, my skin prickled, and my heartbeat pounded in my head. Why the fuck did Agent Crew have a photo of me? Did they connect me to Jims? My hand reached out as I felt like a vice was tightening around my neck. Black spots appeared, and it tainted my vision. I slowly backed up to my car and sank into the seat.

If Agent Crew dug hard enough, he could match my brother’s DNA with mine, but he’d have to have a reason to. Then it hit me, and a layer of sweat broke across my upper lip. Hank-motherfucking-Wallace must have rolled over. Jims must have told him he had a brother. I never met the man, but if Jims was strung out on drugs, who the hell knew what he’d spill.

Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!

My wrists banged on the steering wheel until the pain shot up to my elbows. I grabbed my phone and called her.

“Hey.” Her cheery voice didn’t go with how I felt today.

“We need to do this tonight.”

There was a pause.

“What’s going on, Avery?”

“I think I was made—”

“How?” she interrupted.

We didn’t have time for this. I’d explain later. “Grab your shit and be ready for me in one hour. You remember the plan?”

“Yes.”

“Well?” I sighed. She knew I needed her to repeat it like always. I needed to know she knew exactly what to do.

“We out Jack and demand the money. “

“Right.”

“No one gets hurt, right?” she whispered. I could tell she was nervous.

“Interesting you’d ask that, considering—”

“I’m not like Jimmy. I couldn’t live with myself if I hurt someone.”

I pulled into a gas station and hopped out of the car. “Only in it for the money, nothing more than we deserve,” I reassured her. “Now pack your shit, ’cause we’re not coming back.”

Opening my trunk, I pulled out three gas cans and filled them to the top. Time to make things right.

***

Seth

I pulled into Garrett’s driveway and turned off the car. We both got out with our food in hand—not that either of us felt hungry—and went inside.

“So the camera in the hotel room was planted by Avery.” Garrett handed me a beer and unwrapped his sandwich. Now that the shock had worn off some, we started to connect the dots to everything, and it was fucking mind-blowing.

“Most likely killed Matthews,” I added and swallowed back the loss of my friend. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he was connected to Davis somehow.”

Garrett’s face went white. “Campbell.” I nodded. “I bet he saw Campbell poking around and thought he was onto something.”

My phone vibrated on the table, and a quick glance had me typing away a quick response.

Maddy: I have a surprise and I need you ALL here to see it.

Seth: Now?

Maddy: Please, Seth, I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important.

“Shit,” I muttered, “I gotta go.”

“Everything okay?” Garrett popped two chips in his mouth.

“Maddy has a surprise and wants us all there to see it. She said it was important. I’ll call you later.”

My head spun as I drove over. How could Avery be related Lasko? How could I have not known? I cringed at all the times I left him alone with Emily. Why did he never hurt her? Was I the target? If so, why? This was insane.

I nodded at the guard as I drove through. “Have a good day, Mr. Connors. Your company arrived about twenty minutes ago.

“Company?” I whispered and wondered what the hell Maddy was up to.

“Hello?” I called out as I stepped into the entryway. Chatter came from the other room.

“In here,” my mother called out from the kitchen.

Nicholas sat with Mom, and my father was off in the corner with a pissed-off expression. Gretchen was preparing coffee and cake. The only one missing was Maddy.

“Drink?” Nicholas asked. I gave a quick nod as my phone vibrated again.

Emily: Any idea where Maddy is? She missed our lunch date.

Huh. Normally I’d give her crap about texting my phone right now, but it was an innocent text.

Seth: No, she told us to meet her at Mom’s for a surprise. Teenagers.

Dammit, Maddy
. I rolled my eyes at the thought of Emily being stood up. That wasn’t typically something Maddy would do.

“Here.” Nicholas handed me a beer. “Any idea what’s going on?”

“Did anyone try her phone?” my mother asked as she pulled hers free from her purse.

“Went straight to voicemail earlier,” Nicholas answered, then studied my face. “Care to share?”