Page 77 of Relentless

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“Did I hear my name?” Chad asked, pushing through the door with Sabina on his heels.

Kara cast him a sympathetic look. She knew this wasn’t easy for him. “You did,” she said. “I have a plan to catch Peter Hilton.”

“No,” Sabina said.

Kara scowled at her sister. “You haven’t even heard it.”

“Like I don’t know that you’re going to suggest dangling yourself out as bait to lure him in,” Sabina shot back. “You did the same thing that time we were in Senegal with Mom.”

Kara frowned. “The puppy abuser?”

Sabina nodded. “You posed as a potential buyer so that the cops could bring him in.”

Kara’s eyes narrowed. “You would have done the same. I just volunteered first.”

“The man was also a pedophile!”

Now Kara rolled her eyes. “Of course he was!” she shot back. “The police wouldn’t have been interested in him if he’d only abused puppies. It’s a terrible thing, but they had bigger issues to deal with. The puppy purchase was just a ruse to lure him out.”

“I know,” Sabina snapped. “I was there, remember? I also remember he tried to grab you.”

“And the police were there to prevent it,” Kara pointed out. “And besides, I was sixteen. Too old for him.”

And that was enough of that conversation. Thinking of Kara in the vicinity of Peter Hilton was one thing. Thinking of Kara being accosted by a pedophile when she was sixteen was quite another. He fleetingly wondered where their mother had been during this episode but opted to change the topic.

“I hate to say it, but it’s not a bad plan,” Ethan said.

If Sabina’s eyes could shoot daggers, he’d be a dead man many times over. “Traitor,” she muttered. Not quietly.

“Why don’t you walk me through it?” Chad prompted.

Kara glanced at him then repeated what she’d said earlier. “After the incident in Tahoe, the papers printed that one person had been seriously injured and was in critical condition. He knows that’s me. I think we release another press statement—maybe even have Cody mention it tonight during his show—that I’ve recovered and am looking forward to going home. Then also let it slip which hospital I’m at.”

“You don’t think Peter will see through that?” Sabina said.

“The announcement? No, I don’t,” Kara said. “The shooting at Cody’s concert is news. It’s only natural for there to be a follow-up. As for the reveal of which hospital I’m at, we don’t have to be explicit. We could have Cody acknowledge that the victim is his soon-to-be cousin-in-law and that I’m now recovering in the hospital surrounded by family. Hilton will figure it out from there.”

Ethan couldn’t help the grin that twitched his lips. Sure, they’d started the whole fiancée thing to explain their presence on Cody’s tour. But it didn’t escape his notice that both of them were getting pretty comfortable with the idea.

Sabina started to say something, but Chad cut her off. “What then?”

“Then we wait,” Kara said. “Coming after me and Astrid means he’s either desperate or obsessed. I’m not sure which, but either works in our favor. Hewillshow up here to finish the job.”

“And you think he’ll just waltz right in and try to kill you?” Sabina said.

“Stop with the sarcasm,” Kara snapped at her sister. “I know you’re worried, and I know you don’t like this. If it were you, I’d feel the same. But please try to think of this from my point of view. I have teammates who could die if we don’t stop him. I also have a life I want to live. I want to be able to go to the beach or out on the boat without worrying where Peter might be. I want to have lunch with you downtown and be able to go on hikes. I know this sucks. But if anyone has any other ideas how to bring it to an end, now would be a good time to share.”

“Ava will find him,” Sabina said. “And when she does, we now have evidence against him.”

“Evidence that a good defense attorney will easily refute,” Kara pointed out. The expression on Sabina’s face said she recognized this truth. A partial print on the fuse box would never meet the burden of proof. The full fingerprint on the generator was a stronger case. But they’d found it more than a week after he’d been in LA. A week in which any number of people had handled, and potentially sabotaged, the equipment. And as for the DNA, well, they might be able to get him for assault. But as the attack had happened in the dark, it wouldn’t be hard to argue that while Hilton had bumped into her, he hadn’t been the perpetrator of the attack. There’d be no way to disprove that.

Sabina’s hard gaze stayed fixed on her sister. Then, in a flash, it crumbled. Chad stepped to her side and pulled her close. “You know we can protect her,” he said, his voice quiet but confident.

“But I don’t want you to have to,” Sabina said.

“I know,” he replied. “I hate that she’s going through this, too. But as Kara said, if Hilton takes the bait, it will be the fastest way to bring this to an end.”

Ethan lifted Kara’s hand to his lips and kissed her palm, giving Sabina space to come to terms with what they’d all just implicitly agreed to. Kara brushed her hand over his cheek, then interlaced her fingers with his.