Page 12 of Deadly Lies

He met my gaze and gave me a pained smile. Did he know I was undercover? The way Joaquín met my eyes made me think he could see right through my deception. Could he?

Grant placed his hand on my jaw and turned me back to face him. “Let’s go upstairs, Autumn. I’d like to get to know you better.”

I swallowed hard. I would LOVE to go fuck Grant, have him destroy me. But I was working. I was not here to hook up with the SEALs. I was here to watch.

“Maybe later, bad boy. How about I give you a dance instead? And then we can party.”

Grant nodded his head. “The stage is right there, baby.”

Right. These fucking SEALs had so many stripper parties that they’d installed a stage in the basement as part of the movie theater.

This house. It was Paul Thompson’s parents’ house. He was from a long line of SEALs. But I had known what I was in for when I took this job. So off to the stage, I went.

The music came on, and I began to dance for Grant. For Mitch. For Joaquín. Grant sat in a chair in front of me, his eyes never leaving my body. Mitch hollered and threw some money at me.

But not Joaquín. He almost looked disgusted. After a few minutes, he left the room, Tiffany on his arm.

And that was the last time I saw her alive.

I turned my attention back to Mia, who was staring toward the door as if she expected Joaquín to emerge and give her the answers she so desperately craved.

I took her hand. “Mia. Mia.”

She finally turned back toward me. “Tiffany? Are you sure? She’s…she’s dead. Joaquín killed her. He told me he killed her.”

“But didn’t he also tell you that he didn’t kill her? And that he raped you.”

She pursed her lips and nodded. “I don’t know what to believe.”

“Neither do I. Let’s get out of here and make a plan.”

I led Mia out of the jail and into Grant’s waiting truck. We had been away from Mitch and Grant for less than a few days but, somehow, these last few days seemed like an eternity.

And it definitely was an eternity to Mitch. Sienna was still missing, and Mitch was cationic. I needed to go to him. But at the moment, I had to follow this lead. Of course, finding Sienna was the number one priority, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that seeing Tiffany wasn’t a coincidence.

I drove, since Mia was in even worse shape than I was. Ever since her finding out the other day that Joaquín could be innocent, she’d been despondent. It was almost as if she had believed that he hadn’t hurt her for so long, once a glimmer of hope actually appeared, she didn’t know how to process it.

I didn’t know Marin at all. I had to rely on Mia to be my guide. “Do you know of a good hotel around here.”

She nodded. “Go to Tiburon. Grant and I spent the night there after he proposed.”

I pursed my lips. Proposed. Mia had Grant. Someone who loved her unconditionally. Would I ever have someone who felt about me the way Grant felt about Mia? Could it be Mitch? “Okay.”

We made our way from San Quentin to Tiburon. This part of California was beautiful. I had a view of all three bridges. We finally reached the Tiburon Lodge, and I booked us a room. Once inside, I took Mia’s hands.

“Mia, listen to me. I may be crazy, but I think that was Tiffany. I mean, I knew her. I never forget a face.”

“I keep asking this, but what does that mean? What if it is her? Then Joaquín would go free! Didn’t you see her dead?”

I shook my head. “No. I didn’t. The next morning, Joaquín said she was dead, and then there were cops and paramedics everywhere.”

“So, did someone else die? Didn’t they have a body?”

“I don’t know. I assume. Joaquín was arrested and the paramedics took away a body.”

“So, she’s alive, and her mom raised my son, and now she’s visiting Joaquín. I can’t make heads or tails out of this!”

Neither can I.