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) 📖

“I wish I could tell you I asked what it was. I wish I could tell you I even cared. But I just wanted so badly to be back here with you that I would have done anything.”

“What did he want you to do?”

Austin wasn’t ready to answer that question yet. “You know, when it all went down, I asked Mark and Hillary for help. They could have afforded to get me a good lawyer, but they bought into Frank and Kim’s story and just turned their backs on me. I had known them for ten years and they didn’t even consider the possibility that I might be innocent. If they had helped me back then, none of this would have happened.”

Connor knew Mark and Hillary were Olin’s parents. Another piece of the puzzle fell into place. But he wasn’t going to let go of the question he had asked before, so he repeated it. “What did this Aden Tindol want you to do?”

“He wanted to see if I could hack into their system and take it down for a while.”

It was exactly what Connor thought he was going to say. He also now realized it was why Austin had wanted him to come home early. He hadn’t had anything to talk to Connor about—he’d just been trying to get him out of harm’s way. Not that it did anything to make up for all the horrible things he had done.

“Aden said he would get me out and set me up with enough cash to start over.”

“That’s how you bought the house you’re flipping now?”

Austin nodded. “He told me it would be smart to stay off the grid. That meant no company paperwork, no nine-to-five job.”

“And that’s how you were paying me, too, wasn’t it?”

Austin nodded again.

Connor didn’t have to ask if the money Austin had left for him at the house had also come from Aden. “Did you know what he was going to do when you shut down the city?”

“No, I didn’t. I didn’t think the power outage was the end game, but I didn’t think it would be as bad as it was.” Austin paused, then added, “I tried to stop him. Before everything went down, I found a guy. Carlos something. Took about a month, visiting sketchy bars at night and discreetly asking around. He was supposed to go into Aden’s liquor store and take him out. I told him to make it look like a robbery gone wrong. I hoped to put an end to this whole thing before it started. But he screwed it up.

“Aden had told me what would happen if I didn’t go through with my end of the bargain. He would kill you and me both, he said. So at that point I didn’t have any choice.”

Connor took a deep breath, tried to process all of the information. Then he asked perhaps the only question that really mattered right now. “What are you going to do with all of us?”

CHAPTER 58

Dylan was terrified Austin would shoot Connor when he turned around and got right up in Austin’s face. She couldn’t figure what he was thinking. Not even she would do something like that. Then she saw him contort his right hand, trying to move it only at the wrist and get it into his pocket. And she immediately understood. When Connor had lifted his legs earlier and shaken his hips, he had been trying to get something out. Now he was trying again.

“Get upstairs,” Austin demanded.

Connor stayed nose-to-nose with Austin while he worked the hand around in his pocket, pulled out a pocketknife, and flicked it over to Dylan. It hit her chest with a soft thump—too soft to hear, she suspected—and slid down to her waist.

Her first instinct was to move, shake it off, hide it under her thigh. But that would be a lot of activity. It would draw Austin’s attention, for sure. Connor had put himself at great risk to get her that knife. The best thing she could do was stay still and hope Austin didn’t look down.

She didn’t realize Olin was looking at her, had probably seen the whole series of events unfold, until Austin and Connor were upstairs. He glanced at the knife and then his eyes returned to meet hers. He nodded. The message: Go for it.

Behind Dylan, Kim was making excited noises through her gag. Apparently, she had seen Connor toss her the knife, too.

No shit I’ll go for it, Dylan would have responded, if she could speak.

She shook the knife off, then trapped it between her thigh and the floor and slid it back an inch. She lifted her leg, repositioned, and slid it another inch. The process was painfully slow, but eventually she could feel the knife with the tip of one finger. One more push, and she was able to grab it between her pointer and middle finger.

Cutting through the rope was challenging. Twice she slipped and nicked her hand. Olin watched anxiously, unable to see what she was doing from his angle. Kim, who likely had a better view, made sounds of encouragement.

Dylan pressed her wrists against the rope while she cut to keep it taut. Finally, she cut through enough of the rope that the remaining fibers snapped and her wrists sprang apart. She untied the bandana Austin had used for a gag and spat out the sock. Then she untied Olin and, while he was removing his own gag, grabbed the keys Austin had left on the table by the stairs and unlocked the cage Kim was in.

Whispering, each asked the other if they were okay, and determined, considering the circumstances, they were all holding up about as well as could be expected. Kim, of course, was in the worst shape. But because of that, she also seemed like she was the most angry, the most ready to do whatever it took to escape.

“Let