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that. He had a good idea of what had happened lately, but he didn’t know what Elise and Rick were doing at Ava’s to begin with. Maybe they were targeting her, working another con together, only that one went south. It would explain all the lies Elise had told. If she was working a con on Ava, she’d want to tell everyone the same story. Was that how Elise ended up dead? The con had gone south? Could be. Perhaps Rick got pissed because whatever he was up to was taking too long. Maybe that was even why Rick started writing stuff down about Liam in his notebook. Did he have other notebooks for other players?

The theory was falling apart again. It still didn’t sound right. At the moment, however, it didn’t matter. He’d come here with a plan and it was time he laid it out.

“My guess is Rick is on the run. I think there’s a way we can get him back here.”

Richard Hawthorne

Rick sped down the interstate in the rented car he’d used to abduct Alice and crossed the border into Indiana. He wasn’t sure whether Liam had made it to the airport and wasn’t going to risk running into a Delta employee who’d encountered another Rick Hawthorne tonight taking a flight to Belarus. His would leave from the Weir Cook Municipal Airport.

As he drove, he imagined two competing scenarios. Both made him happy.

In one, Chris had gotten ahold of Liam and done God-knows-what. Maybe killed him. Whatever it was, Rick was sure it hurt.

In another, Liam had run to the airport (because, even though Rick had called him demanding access to his accounts, where else did he have to go?) and gotten arrested when he tried to pass through security with a fake ID and a bogus ticket.

Either way, justice served.

His phone rang. It was Ava. He was supposed to be working tonight and she was probably wondering where he was. He put the phone on silent. It continued to vibrate until the call ended, but at least it wasn’t as annoying.

Ava called six more times over the next ten minutes. She wasn’t just wondering where he was, she was pissed. Rick didn’t care. His plan for the future was to find a nice girl in Belarus (or somewhere else without an extradition treaty), settle down, raise a family, maybe take some photos like those he’d seen in other people’s wallets. He’d never step foot in Ava’s again.

Then a text came in. Also Ava. He cared no more about it than he had the calls until he read it: Where would you like us to bury Susan Hawthorne?

Rick’s mouth went dry. Ava had found out who he was. That wouldn’t bother him if she hadn’t also found out about his mother. While he had enough money to pay for her care for the rest of her life, there was nothing he could do to protect her once he was out of the country.

But would Ava kill her? Probably not. She was likely pulling the same con on him he had on Alice. But “probably” was too big of a risk to take with the only family he had.

Rick pulled over to the side of the road and tried to decide what to do. There was only one choice. He had to find out what Ava wanted and what she knew. Perhaps he could resolve this problem with a phone call. He dialed her number.

“Rick?” Ava said when she answered.

“How did you find out?”

“I want to see you now.” She hung up.

So much for resolving the matter on the phone. Rick looked at the clock on the dashboard. It was almost one a.m. If he didn’t keep going, he’d miss the flight.

For several seconds, he sat completely still, trying to figure out what Ava wanted. (It had to be about more than skipping out on the game.) She could have known his real name for a long time, he reasoned. If Chris and Liam could figure it out, certainly she could. And she might have known about his mother for just as long. Perhaps she’d been holding onto the information for a situation where she needed the upper hand. Ava was friendly to all the players, but with him she’d always kept her distance. Assuming the same personality he had used when dealing cards, he’d made numerous attempts to forge a friendship, hoping to transcend the strict employer-employee relationship Ava insisted upon. Such friendships could be helpful when working a con no matter who the target was. But all of his attempts had been unsuccessful. Was it because she always knew he was lying to her? If that was the case, why would she keep him around?

Rick pounded his fists against the steering wheel and screamed with frustration. He got out of the car, slammed the door, and paced the highway. The scam shouldn’t have run this long. If Elise had done what she was supposed to, she’d still be alive and they’d both have gotten out of this thing rich and safe.

Cars whizzed past as little more than twin lights in the darkness.

Eventually Rick admitted to himself he wasn’t going to figure anything out hanging around on the side of the road and thought about going to the nursing home. He could take his mom out of there, get them a hotel room. But that would scare her. And what if she was still having a bad day? Could he even get her out at this hour?

That wasn’t an option. Besides, even if it was, what would he do after they got the hotel room? Set her up with a fake name as well? Take her with him to Belarus? That wasn’t a life for his mom. He loved her too much to put her through that.

He paced some more before accepting his only choice was to go see what Ava wanted. It was a hiccup. Nothing more. He got back in the car, turned