Read Online No Returns by Rhonda Pollero - Free Book Online Page A

the wind. I think he ditched the car at his apartment and switched vehicles or something. I’m going back this morning to see if he’s come back.”
    “Let me come too?” I fairly pleaded. “Three is definitely a crowd.”
    “I’ll come by and pick you up. But you stay in the car. Deal?”
    “Of course,” I replied, though I had no intention of sticking to it.
    I took a shower, dried my hair, then went into my closet to peruse my options. Hard to know what to wear to meet a gunman. Red, probably, but I didn’t wear red. It makes me look like I need a liver transplant.
    I settled on a pair of ankle skinny jeans, a black draped faux wrap tank and lace-up Hinge wedge sandals. I did my make-up, then slipped a simple silver necklace over my head before finally adding silver hoops.
    My mother emerged from the guest room just as I was walking down the hallway. She greeted me with a chipper ‘I-just-had-sex smile’. “Good morning.”
    She was dressed in a stunning Michael Kors dress with killer pumps and a double strand of pearls at her throat. Her hair was perfectly coiffed and her make-up was flawless and her perfume was leaving a vapor trail.
    “Good morning. Going out?”
    An odd look flashed in her eyes. “I’m meeting with my banker this morning to pick-up the cash.”
    I sighed. “This really is a mistake. You need to call the police. They can help you.”
    “I don’t need any help. I just need this ordeal to be over.”
    “But paying him off doesn’t mean it will be over. Why can’t you see that?”
    Now her expression showed annoyance with a touch of irritation. “Why can’t you do one thing for me without being difficult?”
    “I’m being practical,” I countered, my voice slightly raised.
    She waved her hand and motioned for me to go toward the kitchen. “I swore I wouldn’t tell anyone, but since you are being such a pain, Deacon has asked me to marry him.”
    I’ve been down this road before, made a U-turn and did it a few more times. “Isn’t he already married?” I asked.
    “Yes, but his divorce should be final in a month or two. But only if we are discrete. If his wife gets wind of our affair, months of settlement negotiations will go out the window. Deacon would lose a lot financially.”
    “Okay.”
    Her lips pursed. “That’s all you have to say?”
    “And congratulations.” I gave her a stiff hug and a few air kisses. Luckily for me, Liam pulled up and I was saved.
    “We can all have dinner tonight,” she suggested. Only I knew it wasn’t a suggestion. It was a command. “Seven-thirty at the club? I’ll make the reservations.”
    After unplugging it from the charger, I put my phone in my purse and headed for the door. Liam was out of the car. He looked particularly good in his signature jeans and Tommy Bahama shirt. And the sunglasses gave him a slightly dangerous look. Desire coiled in the pit of my stomach.
    “Let’s take my car, “I said as I handed him the keys.
    He kissed my forehead. “I’m going to start to think you don’t like my Mustang.”
    “You’d be right. The muffler is loud, there’s only paint on half of it and now it has a bullet hole.”
    “But it’s a ’65. It’s a classic.”
    “It’s a hot mess.”
    Liam maneuvered my car around the Jag and the Bentley. I turned in my seat, looking at him in profile. “I had a thought,” I began.
    “Yes?”
    “What if this has nothing to do with the blackmailer?”
    He glanced at me for a second. “You think some random guy picked you out of the phone book?”
    “I was thinking more of the Travis Johnson case.”
    “Then Tony would be the target. And why go after Becky? She has nothing to do with that. It’s a criminal matter.”
    “As for Tony, maybe dark sedan guy is starting from the ground up. And Becky has worked on the Johnson file. Tony had her go over the DCF foster parent agreement and she compiled all the information on the placement. That foster family was getting eleven hundred a