Page 96 of Lethal Deceit

Amusement dances across her face. “Darling, I was the one who told you about the senator. Did you really think I was justgivinghim to you?”

I wince as I recall the night she called me and casually mentioned the conference. “You set me up. You knew he had the memory card.”

She pouts. “I told you not to trust me, but you didn’t listen. You were sodesperatefor amommy. Poor little unwanted Samantha. Still so gullible.”

I smile sweetly, forcing my face to lean into it rather than show her how much her words still hurt. “I don’t know why I’m surprised, really. At your age, work is hard to find. Youshouldbe planning for your retirement.”

The smug smile slips from her face, and her nostrils flare. “Careful, darling, the only thing stopping these men from shooting you is my guarantee you have what they need to finish the job they started.”

Her eyes flick to the man behind me, widening as she puts on a show of fervor. “And what glory awaits. This will be the attack that changes everything. Allah willing, Sharia will reign.”

The man behind us replies in Arabic, and she offers him a pleased smile before turning back to me, her tone shifting. “I know you took it out of the fridge. Where did you put it after that?”

I blink, slowly. Buying everyone more time. The darker it gets outside, the easier it’ll be for them to approach without being seen. “You told me I brought this on myself, but I didn’t.Youbrought it on me. You recommended me.” A horrible thought strikes me. “Did you choose Mick?”

She looks down her nose at me. “He was such anobvioustarget, darling. So arrogant and pathetically patriotic with that ridiculous tattoo on his arm.”

My stomach muscles tense as fury starts to build in me. If there weren’t an armed man behind us, I’d punch her. Instead, I lazily lift a shoulder.

“Where is it, Samantha?” she asks again.

This time, I’m ready for her. “You tell me. I sent it from Hawaii just like you asked me to.”

Her eyes widen, and I catch a moment of panic as the man behind us shifts his weight. She laughs lightly, but there’s a hefty element of fear in her eyes as she lowers her head, feigning reverence. “Don’t be foolish. I don’t have it.”

I lean forward, knowing that every word I utter will confuse the situation even more. “Is this why you asked me to send it to your alternative address?”

Her eyes flick to Hamza, who rounds the table, uttering what I can only guess are Arabic obscenities at her. She shrinks back in her chair, angling her body away from him as though genuinely afraid. He jabs a finger at her, rattling something off before stalking out of the room.

The minute we’re alone, she reaches across the table and grabs my shirt, yanking me toward her. “Tell them where the memory card is, or we are both going to die.”

I grab her hands and dig my fingernails into her skin until she lets go. “What makes you think I’d do anything to save your life? You used me. Just like you’ve always used me.”

She throws her hands up in the air. “You think if I hadn’t come along when I did that you wouldn’t have wound up somewhere worse? Your parents were ready to sell you to perverts for drug money! I did you a favor, and this is the thanks I get.”

I choke out a bitter laugh. “A favor? You robbed me of the last part of my innocence and stole my chance at a normal childhood.”

Her lips curl in a pitying smirk. “You’re pathetically soft and sentimental. You had so much potential. Don’t you get it? This isthecon, the final one. I’ve been waiting all my life for a payout this big.”

I gesture around the grimy kitchen, smirking at her. “I can see why you’re right at home with the rest of the reptiles and snakes.” As fury builds on her face at my insults, I gesture to the fabric covering her head. “It covers the grey, but no amount of money is worth losing your soul.”

Thunder rumbles overhead just as Mona’s face twists into a mocking sneer. “Mysoul? Is that what that ridiculous Coast Guardsman told you? He wants you for your beautifulsoul?”

Lightning flashes outside, lighting up the room as she cackles. I recoil, disgust twisting in my gut. There’s nothing left but revulsion for the woman I once thought loved me. She’s like a polished apple—shiny on the outside, but bite into it, and a worm’s already hollowed it out from the inside, leaving only a shell behind.

Too focused on the laptop in front of her, she’s oblivious to my disgust as she sits back down and spins the computer around so I can see a bank account in the Cayman Islands. “You see that number, darling? That’s what my soul is worth,” she hisses.

My gaze drops from her face to the savings account deposit—stacked with more zeros than I can process.

Her face brightens as she taps the screen. “Be smart. Fifty thousand is a drop in the bucket for organizations like these. Imagine what you could do with another fivemillion.”

The number spins through my head. I try it on like a new identity, just for a moment—five million.

I picture the things I could buy: a penthouse with thick curtains and unlisted keys. A burner phone that never rings. A new passport with a name I actually chose. Enough clothes to reinvent myself in every city from Barcelona to Bangkok.

I imagine a safety deposit box in Zurich. A studio in Prague. A bolt-hole in Morocco. The kind of life where no one’s tracking me, no one’s using me, and I never have to run again unless Iwantto.

Freedom. Power. A future.

---