Chapter 162 Bluff and Bait

“What else do you want to say?”

“How do I know you won’t just kill me after I give you the money?”

Finished

“Rx. Killing for money gets you jail time. I wouldn’t have taken it this far if I hadn’t been pushed.”

Heh.

Elizaughed coldly in her heart.

iWouldn’t really /ikill ime/i? iThen /iwhati–/iiknock /iime /iiout /iiand /iidrop /iime /iiat /iithe /iipolice /iistation /iiwith /iia /iithank/i–iyou /i

She wasn’t stupid.

icard/ii? /i

Grace was saying whatever it took to get her hands on the money. Once she had it, Eliza would be a loose end.

“Alright. I’ll give it to you.”

Eliza kept her tone cooperative, but her eyes never left the stun baton in Grace’s hand.

She was almost certain: the second she revealed her password, Grace would bash her skull in.

“But Madam Grace,” she added lightly, “my bank cards and valuables are all in a secure safe–there are also

a few dozen gold bars. Without my facial recognition, the safe can’t be opened.”

“You think you’re smart, huh?”

Grace jabbed the baton against Eliza’s neck. “Figure it out. Now.”

“Okay, okay! I want to live too. That money doesn’t mean much to me–if you want it, you can have it. But I’m telling you the truth. I had to hide that much money somewhere secure. If someone stole it, what then?”

Eliza knew Grace had a habit of hiding valuables in safes, so she’d believe the lie.

Sure enough, Grace hesitated.

“Where’s the safe? At your home?”

“Yes. My other home in the suburbs.”

Eliza kept her tone casual. “I’m afraid I’ll have to trouble you, Madam Grace, to take me back there.”

“You think I’m an idiot?b” /b

Grace snapped. “Your apartmentplex has security. The second you scream, the cops will be all over

me!”

“I didn’t mean ithat /ihome,” Eliza said calmly. “I meant a house I have in the outskirts. bIt’s /bisted. No

162 Pluff and Bak

Finished

neighbors. You cane with bme /band take the bmoney/b. All I ask is that you let me live. I won’t report you.”

Grace chewed her lip.

“If you don’t want to go, that’s fine,” Eliza added. “But without my facial scan, you’ll never open that safe- no matter what you do.”

Fine. I’ll trust you this once. But if you try anything, I’ll smash your skull.”

Eliza exhaled quietly.

At least iI /ibought some time.

Grace shoved her into the car againb. /b

Looking around, Eliza realized this stretch of ocean wasn’t familiar. She’d grown up in Westbrook, but had never seen this beach. It had to be some remote, wild shoreline Grace had picked–no people, no signal, perfect for something shady.

If they made it to the suburbs, there’d at least be a chance–more foot traffic, possibly someone passing by. And most importantly

I’m missing, Nn will know something’s wrong.

Eliza reached into her pocket, but her phone was gone.

Grace had taken it

She nced toward the front seat “Madam Grace, what time is it?”

“bWay/b?”

“I was supposed to meet bmy /bfriends. If I disappear for too long, they’ll call the cops.”

Grace’s grip on the wheel tightened.

Tm not trying to cause problems,” Eliza said softly. “Just let me text them that I’m safe. I’ll do it in front of you. If they know I’m okay, they won’t make trouble.”

Grace frowned, dearly wavering.

“You wouldn’t want to get arrested before you even touch the moneyi, /iright? Especially since this car… is registered in your name.”

At that, Grace reached into the glove box and pulled out Eliza’s phone.

“Passcode”

“000000”

Grace quickly unlocked the phone.

The screen lit up–countless missed calls and messages from Nn and Henry.

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went to handle it.“”

The message was vague, but not suspicious.

Grace typed and hit send.

Then she powered off the phone entirely.

Eliza rxed a little.

iI /iitold /iiNn /iiearlier /iithat /iisomeone /iielse /iiwas /iimanaging /iithe /iiwarehouse/i. iEven /ibiif /i/bisomething /iicame /iiup/i, I iwouldn’t /iigo /iithere /iiwithout /iisaying /iianything/i. iHe’ll /iiknow /iithis /iimessage /iiis /iia /iisignal/i.

The warehouse was just a few hundred meters from her property in the suburbs.

If Nn was smart–and he always was–he’d be able to connect the dots.

After over an hour of driving, Grace finally reached the location Eliza had described.

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