Page 59 of Creep

If it had been that long, what role did Victoria play in all this?

I looked at the picture. It wasn’t the best shot. It was obvious Theo had been looking at them from a distance. They were outside Briggs’s house when it happened, which meant they probably tried to keep some emotion from showing on their faces, but I thought it looked like the girl was more than just infatuated with Briggs.

She was in love with him.

But the man was obsessed with Lia.

My phone vibrated in my pocket—not the phone I had taken from the fucker Briggs had put on Lia, but the phone I used to talk to clients. I pulled it out to see Briggs’s name flashing on the screen.

Speak of the devil, and he will come.

I showed the screen to Theo before answering it, putting the call on speaker.

“Briggs.”

“What is taking so long?” he said, impatience bleeding through his voice.

I narrowed my eyes. “What did you say?”

“You heard me. What am I paying you for if you can’t even do a simple task of finding a goddamn book?”

“You’re paying me to kill your friend and business partner. Or did you forget? Now I would watch how you speak to me if I were you. Lest I remind you just how good I am at my job.”

He stuttered a little on the phone. Briggs wouldn’t be hard to kill,butthere was still something I needed from him. If he pushed me enough, I might just forgo everything and go after the man myself. I glanced over at Theo.

“I’ll also pay you to find his book,” Briggs said, the impatience now gone from his voice.

“That’s a little better,” I said, imagining the tic moving over his temple to showcase his annoyance. I grinned a little at the thought. “I’ve scoured every place Luckas owns. You know what would be helpful? If you told me where I should look. After all, you know the man better than me.”

“That’s your job,” he gritted out.

I didn’t say anything.

He let out a small sigh. “His daughter.”

His words had me sitting up. “What about her?”

“The book might be with her.”

“Does she know that?” I asked.

“Probably not. But she might be a good place to look into.”

How… interesting.

“If you’re going to look into her, I want you to leave her out of this mess, you hear me?”

My grip tightened around the phone. “Is she important to you, Briggs?”

“Just leave her out of it,” he snapped. “She has nothing to do with this, you hear me?”

“Crystal clear.”

I hung up the phone before he could say anything.

“Is the book really with her?” Theo asked.

“I haven’t seen it.”

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