A Reagan Keeter Box Set: Three page-turning thrillers that will leave you wondering who you can trus Reagan Keeter (most difficult books to read TXT) 📖

“Suit yourself,” the receptionist said with a smile.

Chris turned, exited the lobby. Arkin followed his lead. Neither of them spoke until they were back in the car.

“What do you want to do?” Arkin said.

Chris turned on the engine. He cranked up the heat and slid his seat back to make himself comfortable. There was only one thing they could do. “Wait.”

Liam Parker

Liam bolted past the baggage carousels. Cops fell in behind him, coming out of this door or that, appearing from places he wouldn’t have anticipated. Twice they almost grabbed him. But luck had been on his side, and, so far, he was still a free man.

Then a kid dragging a suitcase as big as he was walked directly into Liam’s path, and it was too late for Liam to stop. He tumbled over the bag, rolled, scrambled back to his feet. The kid screamed and his mother shouted. Liam couldn’t make out what she was saying. He thought it was something about slowing down, paying attention, looking where he was going.

He passed through a pair of sliding glass doors, saw a line of taxis idling along the curb, and hopped in the closest one.

“What’s the rush?” the driver asked, turning to face him.

“Take me to 1712 Walker Avenue,” Liam said, out of breath.

The driver shrugged and pulled away from the airport. Liam looked over his shoulder and saw a flock of officers, bigger than he’d expected, coming out of the same sliding glass doors he had. He instinctively slid down in his seat, even though he knew there was no way they could see him.

Once the driver pulled onto the interstate, Liam relaxed a little and sighed with relief. A momentary reprieve as the stress of one situation gave way to the stress of the next. Even as the air was exiting his lungs, all his muscles tensed back up as his attention shifted entirely to saving his daughter.

Over the next twenty minutes, the driver made idle chitchat and Liam did his best to play along, claiming he was here to see family and in a hurry because his flight was delayed. He didn’t want to raise any more red flags than he already had. The last thing he needed was the driver watching him in the rearview mirror, wondering what sort of passenger had gotten into his cab.

As they closed in on State Street, Liam realized they were going to go right past the Best Western he’d been staying in. It would only take an extra minute to run in and get Anita’s gun. Liam didn’t expect he would be any more comfortable handling the weapon now than he had been earlier. He could fake it though, and it seemed like a good idea to take the Beretta with him. Who knew what he’d be up against when he came face-to-face with Rick?

Liam asked the driver to stop by the hotel, claiming he wanted to check in. When the taxi driver pulled into the Best Western parking lot, Liam got out and hurried to his room.

It took two tries to open the safe. He slid the gun into his inside jacket pocket and ran back down the hall and through the lobby. On his way out, the receptionist said, “You’re Mr. Hawthorne, aren’t you?”

The name didn’t register at first. When it did, it didn’t even register as Liam’s alias. Hawthorne. Richard. Liam stopped. “What’d you say?” Then he remembered. “Are you looking for me?”

“You’re Mr. Hawthorne?”

“Yes.”

“Your co-workers already left.”

“What?”

“If you’re looking for them, I just wanted to let you know they’re gone. They said they’ll see you in the office tomorrow.”

Liam didn’t like the way that sounded. He looked suspiciously at the receptionist as he backed away, wondering if he might be involved in all this. Rick had put Liam up in this hotel. Maybe they were working together. It was crazy, paranoid thinking; he knew that, but he couldn’t help himself.

Liam shook off the idea and ran. It didn’t matter. None of it mattered. He had to save his daughter.

Christopher Bell

Arkin tapped Chris’s shoulder and pointed to a taxi pulling into the Best Western parking lot. “Look. Could that be him?”

Chris squinted, saw the man get out of the cab. The man didn’t turn around, but he was wearing the same green army jacket Rick had been wearing earlier in the day. “It’s him.”

“What do you want to do?” Arkin said.

Chris originally planned to repeat the knock-and-wait strategy they’d implemented earlier. But he had also expected when Rick returned to his room he would stay for a while. The waiting taxi suggested otherwise. If Liam got back in that taxi, they might lose him in traffic. Since they weren’t the bad guys here, there was no need for them to be subtle. “Let’s go get him.”

They got out of Chris’s car at the same time, their doors shutting in unison as if the move had been choreographed. As they crossed the parking lot, Chris studied the hotel. He thought about where Rick’s room was. He saw a side entrance that would get them there faster. “That way.”

The men went through the door and caught a glimpse of Rick at the end of the hall. Then he was gone. He had disappeared into the lobby and was no doubt headed back to the cab. Just like Chris and Arkin had gotten out of the car in unison, they broke into a run in unison.

Chris pulled ahead. He was using every ounce of energy he had to push his legs faster and then faster still. Rick had outmaneuvered him when he stole Chris’s wallet. He wasn’t getting away a second time. They rounded the same corner that led to the lobby and Chris saw the thief stepping through the sliding glass door.

“Hey! What—” the receptionist shouted, but his voice was swallowed up by the wind as Chris passed through that same door.

Rick was twenty feet from the taxi when Chris