JD was still yelling when she ended the call. She glanced out the window and saw headlights coming down the drive. She turned to Jo.

“They’re almost here! We have to leave.”

CHAPTER FIFTY

Jo knew Lydia was right. They couldn’t wait to confront JD. When he found they’d taken the drive and paperwork from the desk, he’d never let them out of the house alive. Jo stuffed the papers and USB drive in her pocket and grabbed Lydia’s hand.

“Come on.”

They ran into the hall. Jo thought fast. The garage was too far, and there’d be no way to get the car out without Kline stopping them. Lydia gestured frantically.

“They’ll come through the front door,” she whispered urgently. “Follow me.” Instead of heading toward the main staircase, she rushed in the opposite direction. “There’s a back stairway.”

“You’re sure Samual and Alice are gone?” Jo asked.

“Yes.”

Jo caught up to Lydia as they reached a narrow stairwell. Jo stopped and held up a hand.

“Let me go first.”

They hurried quietly down the stairs, and Lydia pointed the way to go. They ran down a hallway, turned a corner, and then approached the sitting room. Kline and JD were yelling, their voices coming from the front of the house. Options ran though Jo’s mind like lightning.

“We’ll run to a neighbor’s,” she whispered.

Lydia looked terrified, but she nodded. They crouched down, and Jo darted toward a door that led to the back patio. She turned the knob carefully and eased open the door, then waved Lydia out. Jo started outside and quietly shut the door behind her. She didn’t say a word to Lydia, just motioned. They hurried around deck furniture, past the pool, and into a yard with plenty of trees, but a lot of open space as well.

“Stay low, and stick with me,” Jo said.

They needed to call the police, but she didn’t want to chance being spotted. In the darkness, the phone screen would light like a beacon, giving away their position. Plus, there was no way the police would get there fast enough to help. Right now, they just had to get away from Kline and JD.

She wondered about Kline shooting at them. He and JD were desperate and wouldn’t want their secrets revealed. Kline could have a silencer on his weapon as well, which would mean little noise or attention if he did fire at them. And even if anyone saw what was going on, she had no doubt Kline and JD had ways to cover up what they were doing. Hell, they’d done that before.

With those thoughts racing through her mind, Jo ran to a tree, Lydia so close her quick breaths were in her ear. Jo paused behind the tree trunk and glanced back to the house. Was that someone looking out a window? She couldn’t be sure. She looked ahead. There was a large open area they would have to cross, lit by the moonlight.

“Run fast,” she murmured.

She didn’t give Lydia a chance to argue, just sprinted across the open space. They reached a small grove of trees and ran through that. Another clearing awaited, but they were farther from the house now, where she hoped they wouldn’t be spotted. They kept running, and then Jo helped Lydia over a picket fence and into the neighbor’s yard. A mansion loomed in the distance, lights on in a few windows.

“I don’t know if Bev’s at home,” Lydia said.

“We should call the police now.”

As Jo headed toward the house, Lydia lagged behind.

“I’ll call.”

Jo turned to see her pulling her phone from her pocket. She started to dial, the bluish light of the phone screen piercing the darkness. Then she stumbled, hit the ground hard, and cried out.

“Ow! My wrist.”

Lydia clutched her left arm. Jo rushed to help her up, and as she did so, she looked back.

A dark figure was chasing them, and behind that, another one.

CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE

JD entered through the front door, Kline right behind him. JD’s fury had been building the entire drive home, exacerbated by his phone call with Lydia.

He couldn’t believe she’d threatened him like that, and that she seemed to know everything. He should have known that she’d been suspicious, that she had been putting pieces together. But how much did she really know? How could she know? It had to be the new driver, the plant—Jo. She had turned his wife against him. A string of curses filled his head. If Jo was working with law enforcement, she must’ve turned Lydia against him. More swearing. She’d pay for that.

“Find them!” JD ordered Kline, his voice tearing through the foyer.

The man was already headed down a hallway, not saying a word. JD headed toward his office, glancing in doorways as he went. No sign of the women. He reached his office, and his hand shook as he dug into his pocket for his key. He fumbled with the lock, then pushed open the door. As he went in, he could tell someone had been in the room. He dashed to his desk, and as he started to put another key in the drawer lock, he knew something was wrong. He grabbed the handle and pulled. The drawer was unlocked. He swore as he yanked it open, and as he pulled out the black box, he saw that paperwork and the USB drive were missing. He slammed the box on the desktop, then keyed in the combination and unlocked it. Inside was a Glock. He grabbed it and raced out of the office.

He listened over the rage that thundered in his ears. Jo would not ruin him. He jogged down the hall, away from the foyer, checking rooms as he went, not seeing his wife or her driver. He ran through the sitting room and ended up in a wide hallway that cut through the center of the house. Kline was racing down the stairs.

“No sign of them,” he said.

“Where’d they go?” JD snapped.

Kline dashed past him and peered out a window. Then he pointed into the darkness. “There.”

JD looked past him and saw two figures racing through an open part of the yard.

“Let’s go,” Kline said.

He opened the door and ran out, and JD followed him. He’d never run so fast, but he had to catch up to Lydia and Jo. As he looked ahead, he saw them climbing a picket fence and racing into the neighbor’s yard. He couldn’t let them talk to anyone.

“We have to stop them,” JD snarled.

“I’ll handle it,” Kline called over his shoulder.

We’ll see about that.

As he followed Kline, he stared ahead, the blackness turning to red with his fury.

CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO

Jo half dragged Lydia forward.

The woman winced and pointed. “My phone!”

“We can’t look for it now,” Jo said. “Hurry.”

They sprinted through the neighbor’s yard, up to a huge patio. Lydia ran to French doors and banged loudly with her good hand.

“Bev!” she called out.