I would make Eric watch as they died, like he had done to me.
Getting Eric out of the Great Pleasures Palace, a luxury hotel on the Strip, would be hard. In his line of business, Eric hadn’t left the penthouse in years. But I could get him to leave with Heather. We had been in talks about Veil Security Services for some time, but he wasn’t one to let an insult to his bravery go. Nor was he one to resist a beautiful woman. A compliant toy.
I should choose someone else. Heather was loyal to her family in a rare, instinctual way. In a way I wish I had been years ago.
But she had been wronged by Eric. Her sister had nearly died from getting involved with him. I knew what I did was wrong, but Eric? He made his followers think he cared, made them trust him, that they deserved his cruelty, his punishments, until he lost use for them. A woman like Heather would never understand or care about someone like me, but we could agree on what happened to Eric.
All she had to do was ensnare him. I would take care of the rest.
I needed someone that would do anything for their loved one, and I knew Heather would never give up on her sister. She would be the perfect deception.
I turned off the lights, leaving them in the darkness. Their short respite had ended; after using the hidden control panel, the chains tightened, bringing them back into their positions.
I needed Heather. Twenty years of planning depended on someone like her.
I locked the hatch. Compared to the cells, it was light outside. The moon peered through the trees, the stars like watching eyes.
I called Grant. “They’re still in the basement?”
“Yes, sir,” he said.
Good. It would be easy to rip them apart. But it would be a challenge to convince Heather to be my toy. I loved a challenge.
“Be ready,” I said.
“Yes, sir.”
“I’ll notify you.”
Once I hung up, I walked the short distance back to the house, letting myself in. The door to the basement had been shut; Heather must have thought it was less suspicious to leave it closed.
The woman was naive. But strong. The way she held herself, timid but electrifying, as if curiosity and desire leaked through her every pore. With the right obedience and self-defense training, she would allure even the most experienced of criminals. She would bait Eric.
And once she understood how far-reaching this was, she could only agree to help me.
I dialed Grant. “Listen for me,” I said, then hung up.
I burst through the door, racing down the stairs. The gasps of the two women cut through the sound of my steps. Grant opened a passageway from inside the cell, taking Hazel from behind, restraining her arms as she kicked wildly, cursing the entire time. Heather turned to me, her hands up in defense, her blue-green eyes wide.
“I told you not to go downstairs,” I hissed. I grabbed her by the hair, pulling her into my grip. Hazel screamed, and Heather cried, groaning for her sister.
