Authors: Nazarea Andrews

Fatal Beauty (21 page)

Chapter 34

It takes a week. Four flights and three countries. Two trains, and
finally, a little truck so rickety she wonders if it won’t fall apart while they
drive. She’s exhausted, and has no idea what the hell is happening beyond the
bubble of isolation she’s been living in for the past week. But she stuck to
the plan, almost obsessively. Even when she read news from Vegas about the
woman found burned in a classic green Nova.

It was part of the plan. That was the thing she tried to remember
as she travelled, as she buried herself in reading books to keep her mind busy
and seducing fellow travelers to keep her energy from bubbling over.

It was EJ’s idea. Pin everything on EJ, make her look like an
innocent victim. Use the blind loyalty of her father and his skill as a defense
attorney to get away from the police. She had an alibi for the night EJ went
missing, and witnesses for the deaths in Santa Fe will attest that it was
self-defense. With a little luck and a lot of arguments from her father,
Charlie could walk. Completely clean and free.

But EJ—the only way to get free of this for her would be to die.

And that wasn’t so terribly difficult to arrange.

Still—knowing that it wasn’t real, knowing that EJ is fine in
theory. It’s different from knowing it in truth. And she won’t be able to truly
relax until she’s holding her, and they’re celebrating in a castle.

She doesn’t even appreciate the view as the little truck trudges
up to it. A large ring of keys are jingling in her pocket, and she ignores the
man driving as she launches herself out of the castle.

It’s dark. Quiet and still, and she knows, even before she shoves
the doors open and screams for EJ.

She isn’t here.

She isn’t here, and if she isn’t here, where the hell is she and
what went wrong? They played the game, so flawlessly that this makes no sense.

EJ should be here, in
a
oversized sweater and a smile, with a glass of wine.

Where the hell is she?

Charlie finds it in the bedroom. A photo, of a beach, and Jacobs
in the distance. A cell phone waiting for her to turn on.

And a note.

Can you see me as a
hermit in a castle? I would be so fucking bored.

She stares at it, for so long her eyes burn, and a laugh is
choking her, and she wants to scream. “You bitch,” she murmurs. “You
backstabbing bitch.”

It’s a taunt. A challenge.

EJ wants to be found. And as she stares at the fucking note, she
has to admit, to herself, that this was something she should have expected.

EJ has always loved the game.

With a muttered curse, she turns on the phone. “I need your help.”

Acknowledgments:

This one is easy.

Jessica and Mel, who have always been
the best team I could ask for, who keep me sane and provide the best covers I
could possibly ask for.

Mom and JC who listened and talked me
through every plot point I got stuck on, who never complained when I said
SPOILER ALERT
and always made sure to
tell me if I jumped the shark too much.

Aj
, who was the best
damn cheerleader I could ask for, who laughed when I proposed something crazy,
and who gave a gigantic
finally
when
I told her I was writing this.

And all of the bloggers who took a
chance on my crazy bitches. I hope you love them.

About the Author:

Nazarea Andrews (N
to almost everyone) is an avid reader and tends to write the stories she wants
to read. Which means she writes everything from zombies and dystopia to
contemporary love stories.

When not writing,
she can most often be found driving her kids to practice and burning dinner
while she reads, or binging on old TV shows. N loves chocolate, wine, and
coffee almost as much as she loves books, but not quite as much as she loves
her kids.

She lives in
south
Georgia with her husband, daughters, spoiled cat and
overgrown dog. She is the author of World
Without
End
series, Neverland Found, Edge of the Falls, and The University of
Branton
Series. Stop by her twitter (@
NazareaAndrews
)
and tell her what fantastic book she should read next.