Free Behind the Lies (A Montgomery Justice Novel) by Robin Perini Page A

wounds could be trouble.
    He settled her soft frame against his chest and carried her to the Range Rover. He placed her into the seat beside him. She hadn’t budged, hadn’t regained consciousness.
    He turned to help Sam into the backseat.
    He fought against a gasp. The boy stood, peering over the side of the mountain. Much too close to the edge.

    No sound filtered through Brad Walters’s house. Eerie actually—and pleasant. His wife’s joyous laughter grated when she lavished all her attention on Sam. He should have found peace in the silence, but his well-ordered life had tumbled into chaos. All because of her.
    Disbelieving, he stared for the third time at the stash of items dumped in the hallway.
    He couldn’t believe Jenna had possessed the guts.
    He’d taken her off the streets. She’d had nothing. No one. He’d made her into a lady, given her everything. And this was how she repaid him.
    He walked through each room, once more searching for anything out of place. He’d identified all the listening devices. Luckily, he knew better than to discuss business in his home.
    This house had been one piece of his well-orchestrated cover. His two worlds had never collided.
    Or so he’d believed.
    He should’ve killed Jenna already, but he had to know how she’d discovered his secret. Besides, he had to make arrangements for Sam. The kid couldn’t survive without someone watching over him.
    He made his way to the back door. It had been her only way out. He picked up the flashlight from the patio table where he’d left it after his last foray and walked the yard again, this timemore deliberately. With Montgomery gone, he could take his time to do a proper study of her movements.
    Sam had left the signed baseball tossed in the middle of the yard. He needed to take better care of his things. Jenna had always been too easy on the kid.
    His son was coddled and spoiled. That would change. Once Brad eliminated Jenna, order would return. Then he’d make sure the boy learned self-control.
    Brad’s father had taught the lessons well. Control must be maintained at all times. It was the only way to succeed. To win. To be someone.
    The ball could rot. The boy would pay for a new one when Brad got his son back.
    Brad ran the beam of light across the back wall, skimmed across the blood. They’d climbed into Zach Montgomery’s yard. He didn’t care what the actor said.
    The man was a bum. No discipline. No control. Ever since Zach had moved in, he’d watched the guy come and go on a whim and then perpetually make the cover of the tabloids.
    Anyone who let themselves show their weaknesses in public was a fool.
    With a quick move, Brad vaulted to the top of the wall. He studied the drop. Far, but not too far for Jenna to help Sam down. At least his son showed some athletic prowess.
    Brad scanned right, then left. It was the only way down. He could always predict his target’s movements, but Jenna had surprised him. He didn’t get it. His wife was a coward. She wasn’t a risk taker, which is why he’d chosen her. She had been exactly what he wanted.
    The first time he’d seen her, Jenna was nothing but a street rat picking pockets. She’d been foolish enough to target him. He’d considered breaking her hand as punishment. One squeeze at the right point and she’d have been begging for mercy, but then he’d seen her eyes. He’d recognized the potential. He’d wanted her.
    After one date, he’d known she was vulnerable, that he could mold her. He’d paid her uncle enough money not only to wash his hands of her but to make her life hell on the streets.
    With nowhere to go, she’d been putty in his hands.
    She’d been his perfect wife. A woman who would question nothing.
    Until now.
    Brad didn’t like the unexpected.
    So, what had changed?
    With a quick swing, he dropped into his self-indulgent neighbor’s yard.
    The man was never here. A waste.
    The space appeared different from this angle. What would Jenna see?