Read Online A Perfect Darkness by Jaime Rush - Free Book Online

and—”
    â€œMake sure I’m not followed. Got it.”
    Amy punched the address into her GPS, which showed it would take forty minutes to get there. She had plenty of time to stop by a jewelry repair shop. She pulled out Lucas’s necklace and held it to her mouth. “When I promised I would stay out of this, I was crossing my fingers.”
    Â 
    From his car, Cyrus watched Amy walk into the gallery for the second time that day. Lucas Vanderwyck’s gallery. Which meant Lucas told her something that intrigued her enough to pursue. It also meant Amy knew that Lucas Brown was a lie.
    His cell phone rang. He recognized the number and was tempted to let it roll to voice mail. The man would only call again and again, so Cyrus answered, “Diamond.”
    â€œHave you talked to Shane again?”
    â€œTwice now. She’s upset, of course, and wondering why the ‘FBI agents’ didn’t follow normal procedure by questioning her, but she bought the serial killer story.”
    For a moment there was silence. “That’s what I needed to know.” The line disconnected.
    It wasn’t the first time he’d lied. Wouldn’t be the last.
    Amy emerged within a few minutes and headed to her car. Cyrus pulled out a few cars behind her. He knew she’d noticed the white car, so he’d switched to a different one, a different disguise. She was on guard, searching the parking lot, taking convoluted routes to her destinations. She was up to something and she didn’t trust him.
    That was dangerous for both of them.
    Â 
    Gerard Darkwell hung up the phone and looked at his associate, Sam Robbins, across a pristinely organized desk. “Diamond says Shane bought the cover story.”
    â€œYou don’t believe him?”
    Gerard knew that Robbins, with his round face and brown rabbit eyes, wasn’t tough enough for this job. That he was up to his balls in this made him an asset.
    Gerard’s phone rang again. The man on the other end said, “It’s Costa. Amy Shane went to Vanderwyck’s gallery. Now she’s on the move. Diamond is tailing her, and I’m tailing both of them.”
    â€œGood work.” Gerard disconnected. “Shane’s at the gallery. We need to find out what she knows. Just as I suspected, Diamond is holding back on us. They’re both becoming a problem.”
    Robbins ran his hand over his balding head. “With all due respect, we need to stop now. Resurrecting this is going to destroy us and destroy innocents.”
    Gerard narrowed his eyes. “Nobody’s innocent.”
    â€œIs that how you justify your actions?”
    He could see that Robbins had grown a bit of a backbone since their last association; unfortunately, it was directed against him. He would have to crush that before it grew troublesome. “I don’t have to justify my actions, Robbins. I’m thinking of a higher cause. The noble and brave risk all for the betterment of our society. I’m risking my career, just as I did twenty years ago. Yes, we made mistakes then.”
    â€œ Mistakes? People died.”
    â€œSometimes people must suffer and die for higher causes. Soldiers have died for our freedom since the beginning of time.”
    â€œBut they sign on for that. They know the risks.”
    â€œKeep your focus on the big picture. Look what we accomplished! And we would have accomplished so much more if…well, no point in lingering in the past. There’s nothing we can do but make use of it. And make good of it. We’re going to change the world as we know it. We’re talking about victory, justice, everything we dreamed of last time. Everything we almost had.” He stared at his clenched fist, remembering how it had all slipped through his fingers. “You and I, we have another chance to attain our goals. This time we’re doing it differently.”
    The recrimination in Robbins’s expression