Guilt By Degrees

91

Lilah took one last glance around the empty office. She’d made sure every inch was scoured. There’d be no trace left of her. She’d always known this day would come, one way or another. What she hadn’t been prepared for was Chase. Hotheaded, yes. Impulsive at times, yes. But going after that prosecutor? Suicidal. Now, in hindsight, Lilah realized the screwup in Venice had affected him more deeply than he’d let on. And she couldn’t afford to leave him behind. He was too big a liability. Loyal as he was, she knew better than to believe he’d never crack. She sighed heavily as she closed the door for the last time. Somehow, everyone always failed her in the end. She should be used to it by now. No one was as strong, or as smart, as she was.

The car was waiting for her at the curb. She looked around and saw the street was deserted, then gestured to the driver. “In there,” she said, pointing to the luggage just inside the entranceway. The driver nodded, opened the back passenger door for her, waited while she got seated, and closed it behind her before trotting up the walkway.

Lilah pulled out her phone and called Maxwell Chevorin. “I’m on the way out. Is it ready?”

“All set. Only the pilot knows the destination, and he works for me.”

“I’ll be in touch as soon as we land,” she said.

Chevorin seemed satisfied with that. She ended the conversation and closed the phone, her expression grim. Now she was beholden to him-not something that sat well with her. It gave him too much power. She tapped the back of her cell phone, thinking about how to even the score. A little smile lifted the corners of her mouth as a possibility came to mind. Half an hour later, the driver pulled onto the tarmac.

Lilah boarded and buckled up. Within minutes, they’d ascended over Van Nuys Airport and climbed into the clouds. She couldn’t stay gone forever. But she couldn’t come back until she’d eliminated the threat. Lilah pulled out her throwaway phone.