Page 16 of Lethal Deceit

Disgust coils in my gut. I stare out the window, watching the world blur past. “It’s abandonment. Dressed up with paperwork.”

Jake swerves around a corner, harder than necessary, and I grab the handhold to brace myself.

Caleb exhales slowly. “Samantha Duke was rehomed twice before she was eight.”

Jake blows out a breath. “She would’ve gotten real good at trying to be whatever the family wanted.”

My fingers clench into a soft fist. “You know all this—does that mean you know her real name?”

“Samantha Abigail Duke,” Caleb says.

Samantha.I finally have a name to put to the face I see each night in my dreams. But the picture Caleb and Jake are painting of her isn’t the one I’d dreamed up.

“Plenty of people have lousy childhoods. That doesn’t give them a free pass to do whatever they want.”

“Never said it did. But you branding her a terrorist isn’t entirely accurate.”

I choke out a laugh. “She tried tokillme. How is she not a terrorist?”

“I’m not convinced she did. But guess we’ll find that out soon enough. Long as you keep your head, that is.”

My appetite gone, I fold the wax paper over the rest of my food and look out the window. Just beyond, beside Government Cut, sits the Miami Beach Marina—no fixed bridges, deep water, and direct access to the open sea.

I swing my gaze back to Caleb. “You think she has a boat?”

He swipes his mouth and balls the wrappers in his fist. “I think she’s trying to get out of Miami undetected. She’s not at the airport, and we’ve put the word out at the other marinas. That leaves this one.”

“And we stopped to getfood?”

Caleb stuffs the remaining sandwiches into the bag. “She’s not going anywhere until it’s dark. We’ve got time.”

His relaxed attitude is starting to get to me. “You don’t know that. Smugglers are getting smarter. They’re hiring charter boats and posing as tourists. She could be halfway to the Bahamas.”

He’s silent, and Jake doesn’t say a word. “What? You know what boat she’s on?”

“We know enough.”

My jaw starts to ache from clenching it. “Stop the car.”

Caleb’s eyebrow raises, and I catch Jake’s confused expression in the rearview. “We’re nearly?—”

“Stop the car, or I’ll stop it for you,” I say.

Beside me, Caleb lets out a sigh. “You don’t want to do this.”

As Jake pulls into the nearest vacant parking spot adjacent to the marina, I grab my pack.

“Yeah. I do. You’re not being straight with me. No way am I going to run into this with two guys I can’t trust.”

I give him enough time to come clean before I wrench the door open, pausing only to pull my pack on and tug the straps tight.

“Tell Silas thanks but no thanks. I’ll find her on my own,” I say over my shoulder before I stalk across the road.

Samantha

Anxiety and paranoia clutching at me, I leave my rental as far away from the marina as I can. No longer sure it’s such a good idea to bring my suitcase, I retrieve everything of value, including my gun, money, and a change of clothes and shoes. The memory card is encased in plastic and still lodged firmly inside my bra. If I do get wet, itshouldbe fine.

With a pack on my back, my hair hidden under a pink bucket hat, aviator shades on my face, and the running shoes and baggy clothes I’m wearing, I look like any other tourist out for a stroll to see the expensive yachts before the sun sets. To add to the effect, I’m carrying a bag filled with souvenirs.

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