He raises a brow. “Go on.”
I take the next turn too fast. The tires bite the road, but I don’t slow down.
“Martine thinks it’s to celebrate our marriage. Let her. The staff will be busy with the prep. Security will be distracted by guests. People coming in, going out. No one will notice if someone else enters or exits the house. Especially not someone they aren’t supposed to know is there.”
Archie whistles low. “You’re planning on hiding him in the house.”
“Beneath it,” I correct.
He looks over at me, the humor gone. “And Martine?”
“She thinks she’s finally being trusted. I’m getting her closer to finally being safe.”
“Christ,” he mutters. “You’re using your wife as a decoy.”
I finally glance at him, expression flat. “I’m using the opportunity of allowing people into my home to hopefully lure someone who isn’t invited.”
He watches me for a long beat, then huffs out a laugh with no absolute amusement in it. “And here I thought you’d gone soft.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
Archie shakes his head. “So while the champagne flows and Martine plays hostess, we slip underground and question the man who started all of this.”
“Exactly,” I say.
“And if he talks?”
“He will,” I reply. “One way or another.”
We fall into silence again, but it’s heavier this time. The kind of quiet that carries consequence.
Then Archie chuckles under his breath. “You know, if she finds out you used her as bait, she’s going to kill you.”
I almost smile. “She can try.”
I see the realization hasn’t hit Archie yet.
“How are we getting him to the estate exactly?”
So I give it to him straight.
“We’re not pulling Douglass out,” I say, eyes on the road. “We’re drawing him in.”
Archie turns his head slowly, brows raised. “What?”
“He’s not invited, but he won’t be able to stay away. Not once he hears about it.”
“You’re setting a trap,” Archie says, voice flat. “At your estate. With your wife. While entertaining half the inner circle.”
I nod once.
He lets out a short laugh, utterly devoid of humor. “That’s ambitious. Even for you.”
“He’s paranoid,” I say. “But he’s predictable. The moment he catches wind that Martine is being flaunted around like a prize, that I’m letting the doors open, he’ll assume it’s his easiest time to make a move against her. He won’t resist getting a closer look.”
Archie runs a hand down his face, then lets it drop into his lap. “So you’re dangling your wife like raw meat to draw out a man who has no plan other than murdering her.”
“Exactly.”
