Page 65 of Lethal Weakness

I race down the stairs and back to the side door where the guard is already eyeing me warily through the window.

“Sorry, it was coming out both ends.” I cringe at my outlandish statement and keep trucking towards my car without making eye contact.

No one chases me down, and as far as I can tell, no one noticed I was snooping.

I glance towards the security guards again, and I observe the same thing that I’ve noticed before. All black uniforms. Firearms on their hips. No gloves. No mask.

So who is the one inside?

And why didn’t he alert Edmund that I was spying?

I’m still breathing heavily, my shaking hands gripped on my steering wheel, when the front door to the house opens, and Avery comes running outside.

“Hi, Mommy!” Avery squeals as she leaps into my arms.

“Hi, baby,” I murmur against her hair, squeezing her until she grunts.

“Dear Lord, Linden. You look a mess. Were you sleeping in your car?” Merrill scoffs.

“No.”

“Fix your hair. You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” she quips distastefully, turning on her heel without even saying bye to Avery.

I pull out my phone after I get Avery buckled and play the video I took before I get behind the wheel.

13 seconds of Edmund in his office, and then the entire thing goes blurry just before my thumb slipped off the record button. There isn’t even a slight frame where the masked man makes himself visible…

Maybe he was a ghost.

Chapter Twenty-Three

O’Connor

Their headlights illuminate my garage as they pull into their driveway, but I keep my head ducked under the hood as I tweak some wiring.

I hear Avery’s pitter-patters first.

“Mr. Jack! Our fence is gone!” She comes skipping up my side of the driveway after clearing the underside of the fence railing.

All the chain link is rolled into a bundle at the curb.

“You’re taking down the fence?” Linden’s voice comes closer as she ducks under the fence rail, too.

“It seemed to be too far gone. Figured starting over wouldn’t hurt.” I wipe my hands on a rag and toss it into the open garage.

“That’s what you’ve been doing all evening?” She asks hesitantly, letting her eyes roam over me.

I shrug. “That, and working on my truck.”

“What exactly is wrong with your truck?” She glances towards the engine, but I know she doesn’t know much about cars.

“Nothing is wrong. Just old. I need to replace some parts before they go bad.”

“Hmm.” Her mouth pinches like she’s deep in thought.

“Everything okay? Things okay up on the hill?” I ask, glancing toward where Avery is skipping around in circles in my garage.

“Yeah. No bee stings tonight, but…” Her eyes flash to mine, and I hold her stare.