A Reagan Keeter Box Set: Three page-turning thrillers that will leave you wondering who you can trus by Reagan Keeter (best e book reader txt) 📕

the counter. This time, he had every reason to look over his shoulder. If he got caught, he would have no believable explanation for what he was doing, and the sooner he knew someone was watching him, the better.

He returned to the living room with the coffees, handed a mug to Austin, and tensed up as Austin took his first sip. Connor was counting on the naturally bitter taste of the coffee to mask the pill, and—thank God—it seemed to be working.

He wasn’t sure how long it took before Austin started getting sleepy. It seemed like forever. Long enough for Connor to worry his plan wasn’t going to work.

Eventually, though, Austin’s head dipped forward. He jerked it back, looked down into his coffee cup like he was confused. “Instant’s definitely not the same as the real thing. I think I need to get some sleep.” He got up slowly, held out his hands like he was worried he might fall back into the chair, then tried to head toward his bedroom.

After a couple of steps, he turned to Connor. “What did you do?”

“What are you talking about? You’re just tired, like you said.”

Austin’s hands had balled into fists. His teeth clenched. He took a step towards Connor, but his balance faltered. He grabbed hold of the back of the sofa to keep himself from falling over.

Dylan and Olin jumped up, as confused by what was happening as Austin had been seconds earlier.

“This wasn’t another one of your stupid plans, was it?” Olin said to Connor.

“I don’t know what’s happening, I swear. I thought he was just tired.” Connor likewise got out of his seat and moved to the other side of the room. “You need to relax, Austin. I don’t know what you think I did, but I swear I didn’t do anything.”

Austin turned. Again, it was slow, his balance even less reliable than it had been a moment ago. “You’re making a mistake,” he slurred. Then he dropped to his knees.

CHAPTER 49

The power had not yet returned when Olivia put Erin to bed. Normally, her daughter slept with a nightlight. Since that wasn’t an option, Olivia placed a flashlight in Erin’s closet and cracked the door so it let just about the right amount of light into her room.

That, however, did not stop Erin from tiptoeing into Olivia’s room an hour later, saying she was scared. On any other night, Olivia would ask her what she was afraid of, help her reason through her fear, so she could go back to sleep in her own room. It was a part of growing up. That didn’t seem like the right move here. Erin had been through a lot today. The truth was, they both had. The trial had been exhausting. And then there was that conversation with Roland.

Olivia wanted to snuggle with Erin as much as Erin wanted to snuggle with her. So she pulled back her covers, invited her daughter into the king-size bed, and they stayed wrapped up tight until the phone woke Olivia up sometime later.

Erin was a sound sleeper. She didn’t move when the phone rang or when Olivia pulled her arm out from underneath her daughter’s head, sat up, and swung her feet over the side of the bed. Still, Olivia carried the phone into the hall before answering.

“Ms. Forbes,” said Oldrich. “I have some troubling news.”

CHAPTER 50

Connor stayed where he was until Austin passed out, stretched out on his stomach on the living room floor. The only thing he said, over and over again, was, “You’re making a mistake.” It became a sort of gauge Connor could use to tell how close Austin was to falling sleep.

At some point, Dylan suggested they call an ambulance. Olin responded by saying they would be unlikely to get one anytime soon. Connor simply shook his head no.

“But he might be in serious trouble. We should at least try. Connor, give me your phone.”

“He’s not,” Connor said.

That seemed to surprise her more than Olin. She asked, “How do you know?” At the same time, Olin said, “You told us you didn’t do anything to his drink.”

Connor gave him a look but said nothing. The look was enough.

For a moment, Connor worried Olin would charge out of the apartment, angry or afraid or maybe both. Instead, Olin walked to the window, cursing under his breath. After a few moments, he turned around to face Connor again, arms crossed over his chest. Connor could tell he wanted to say something. But if he wasn’t going to speak, Connor wasn’t going to make him. This would all make sense soon enough.

Connor nudged Austin with his foot once he was sure Austin was out. When he didn’t get a response, he told Olin and Dylan about the call from Isaiah. “I have to know if it’s him.”

Olin was less annoyed than he had been before. He moved closer to Austin, looking at him in a way that made Connor think he was trying to figure out whether the man was physically capable of the crime. “Well, since you’ve already gone to the trouble of drugging him, I guess we’d better find out.”

“So you think this is the kidnapper?” Dylan said, still processing the news.

“You don’t need to be scared. He can’t hurt you if—”

“Scared? Are you kidding? This is freakin’ awesome!”

Connor wasn’t sure how he felt about her response and decided to chalk it up to Dylan’s age. “All right, well, I don’t know how long we have, so let’s see what we can find.”

“What are we looking for?” Dylan asked as she headed to a nearby bookshelf. She started pulling off books one at time and riffling through their pages before dumping them on the floor.

“I don’t know. If he’s our guy, he obviously doesn’t have our parents here. Look for a pair of leather driving gloves. A Taser. Just let me know if you come across anything unusual.” It was almost the exact same thing he’d told Olin