Page 81 of Lethal Deceit

Silas nods and glances at the door Adena and Samantha left through. “There’ll be a gap of around thirty minutes each change. That means you’ll be here with Adena and Samantha.”

To emphasize his meaning, he lowers his chin and narrows his eyes. “This is a complicated situation. I don’t want it complicated even further, and I will not allow my people to get hurt because you can’t control yourself, understand?”

I shift my weight to one leg, unable to look at him directly as I consider what just happened in the garage. I’m acting like an out-of-control teenager who’s never seen a pretty girl before.

“I got it.”

Silas extends his hand. “I need to know I can trust you. Can I do that?”

I hesitate before slapping my palm against his. “You can.”

Samantha

With Adena watching me like a hawk, I reach into the top cupboard and clasp an ancient coffee maker. It weighs so much, my arms are straining as I maneuver it onto the countertop. It’s covered in dust and grease, and drinking coffee out of it is as appealing as drinking the swamp water surrounding us.

“That was pointless. It’s unusable,” I say.

Adena purses her lips. “You don’t know that.”

I scoff. “Yeah, I do. It’s too grubby and is probably rusty. No one is going to want to drink coffee out of it.”

Adena reaches behind the refrigerator and switches it on. An overloud hum fills the kitchen as she opens the freezer door and grabs an ice cube tray. Her eyes stay on me as she carries it to the faucet. “So clean it so people can. There are cleaning supplies and gloves under the sink.”

Shecannotbe serious.

“No thanks. I don’t need coffee anyway.”

She shakes her head and dumps the tray in the sink then bends down to open a cabinet door, revealing gloves and cleaning agents I’ve only seen in commercials. “But the men out there might. Mick might. And when we bring Brooke back, she might too. So get to it.”

She tosses a pair of slimy old gloves at me, and I cross my arms so the pink rubber gloves fall to the floor. “I’m not your slave.”

Adena leans her hip against the countertop and heaves a sigh. “Okay. Let me phrase it another way. We’re a team, you’re alive because of us, and this is how you can show some gratitude.”

My temper flares, and I lift my chin. “I spent all my crappy childhood cleaning up after people, and I am not going to go back to living that way just because you think I owe you.”

She frowns and points to the gloves on the filthy floor. “I asked you to help because cleaning this dump is a two-person job, and everyone else has skills that are better utilized elsewhere. If you think Silas or Caleb wouldn’t clean if needed, you have a lot to learn about how Hightower operates.”

She holds my gaze unblinking, and I get the feeling that if I were to try to stare her down, I’d come out the loser. A niggle of remorse starts to work its way up my body, overtaking me, until I snap at the waist and snatch the gloves off the floor. I turn my back on her as I grab the detergent and find the sink plug. “Fine. I’ll clean it, but I willnotbe held responsible if anyone does get sick.”

Adena’s mouth quirks, but she doesn’t say a word, just walks out of the room, leaving me with no choice but to slide my fingers into gloves that are likely crawling with germs. Grimacing, I gingerly pull them on and shudder as I try not to think about what kind of a person wore them last.

Monanevercleaned her apartment. She paid someone to do it, and her voice echoes in my mind as I take the water compartment out of the machine.

You were made for better things than scrubbing toilets.

It’s a nice sentiment, and until a few days ago, I never considered that maybe she was wrong. I’d never have thought to question her onanything.

Pushing that idea aside, I fill the sink with hot, soapy water and find a scourer that will work. Adena can think what she likes, but nobody is going to be fool enough to drink anything out of this cruddy thing, even if I do scrub it.

More out of anxiety than anything else—and to keep my mind off of what might happen to me after this ends—I attack the machine as if it were my mortal enemy. I keep working, oblivious to what’s going on in the rest of the house, scrubbing until my fingers are cramping and my neck and shoulders are aching from looking down.

The first indication that something has changed in the house is the slam of a door, more activity in the next room, and the scent of garlic wafting toward me. I stop what I’m doing and turn just as Mick enters the room, followed by Caleb, who’s slick with sweat and downing water while trying to answer Mick’s questions about Brooke.

As Caleb sinks into a chair at the table, Jake appears, laden with pizza boxes. Adena is right behind him, with grocery bags and a roll of paper towels. Her eyes meet mine then shift to the now-clean coffee machine. A faint smile appears on her face before she nods her approval.

Jake tosses the pizza on the table and slumps into a chair. “One of the neighbors stopped me. He wanted to know if there was anything he could do to help.”

Caleb bobs his head. “Nosy old coot. But he does know a lot about the neighborhood. Says our ‘friends’ at the end of the road have been there for a few months—and two vehicles and a BMW arrived after dark a few days ago.”

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