Empire of Lies - Whitney G. Page 0,24

and harmful ones.

Horrible people were capable of doing good things from time to time. They didn’t need to be rewarded on those rare occasions.

“You’ve got forty seconds, Mr. Donovan.” I cut off his rambling. “Even if I were weak enough to let you go, you should know that I’ve already forwarded most of your collection to the police. That’s why they’re on their way here, and we both know what will happen if the public ever finds out the real reason why they came to your condo today.”

I walked to the door and looked over my shoulder. “If I don’t hear the sound I need to hear within the next twenty seconds, I’ll come back and handle it myself. This is your chance to not be a bitch for the first time in your life.”

I stepped into the hall and stared at the seconds as they ticked by.

Eight, nine, ten…

I shook my head and gripped the doorknob, prepared to push it open, but the familiar, loud sound of a gunshot roared through the hallway.

I opened the door, saw the blood spatter all over the walls, then walked away before his neighbors could come up to his floor. Taking off my gloves, I slipped them into my pocket and made a mental note to call in an anonymous tip about his other ‘business partners’ later this evening.

I managed to make it to my car just as the sirens sounded from around the corner.

As always, I sent a text to the person who helped me do this. The man who thrived on crafting and ending nightmares, since neither of us could ever escape our own.

My brother, Trevor.

“Yeah?” he answered on the first ring.

“The Donovan job is done.”

“What?” He sucked in a breath. “You weren’t supposed to do anything with that until three days from now.”

“I saw some of the pictures,” I said. “I couldn’t let him live to see another day.”

“Jesus Christ. This is the fourth one in a row, Michael.”

“Finishing jobs early is a problem?”

“No, but acting like you have some type of moral compass all of a sudden is. You’re not thinking about his wife, his family, or how this impacts all the other businesses that we run in this city. We have a schedule for a reason and I’m tired of—”

“He was getting ready to take and sell pictures of his own fucking daughter.” I cut him off, wishing I’d never had to see him discussing it. “Any person with a hint of morals wouldn’t say I did the wrong thing by getting him off early.”

“Coming from a person with no morals, I find that quite ironic.”

“It’s better to hurt certain people before they can hurt someone else,” I said. “I’m sure you wish I’d been able to hurt all of the people who hurt us years ago, don’t you?”

Silence.

“I fucking thought so,” I said. “Send me the next one when you’re done being emotional, so I can get the studying done.”

“Fine.” He let out a breath. “I’m over it. Is the scene clear?”

“Crystal.”

“Any prints or hairs you could’ve left behind?”

“None at all.”

“I’ll send you the next one this evening, then. It’s an easy one, super simple.”

“Wait,” I said, before he could end the call. “Walk me through the Thatchwood job.”

“Again? Seriously? Do I need to write it down for you?”

“That actually might help.”

“For the umpteenth time this week…” He let out a loud sigh. “Get rid of her and dispose of the body within the next few weeks. Since you seem to be struggling with some ideas, here are a few you’ve done successfully before: Blunt force trauma to the head and weigh her body down with sandbags, so that if she ever were to wash ashore the Hudson someday, the autopsy will confirm she died before she was drowned.”

I tapped my fingers against my steering wheel.

“Kidnap her in the middle of the night and shoot her execution style,” he said, calmly as ever. “Place her body in the trunk of an old car no one will miss and lower it into that lake no one knows about. Or my favorite specialty from you, indirect. Kill her in her sleep with carbon monoxide or something she’s allergic to. Have I explained this clearly enough?”

“Yes.”

“Good. The quicker you finish her off, the quicker we can move on to the Penelope job. I’ve got your new passport with me. It’s under Tyler Mason.”

“Noted.”

“Can you guarantee to finish this Thatchwood thing within the next few weeks, or do I need to