I pull up to the guard gate at Corrigan & Co. where I give my name and ask to speak to Jane Corrigan. I sit in my car for a moment gathering my thoughts. What I’m about to do will change everything. I know I have to do it because in my heart—and my mind—I know Faith is innocent. I’ve been lied to, and I need to own up to my mistakes and help fight to free the woman I love. Then I need to win her back. First things first, though. I have to get out of my car and walk into that building.
I get into the lobby and see Nate walking with two other men. No one else is there. No receptionist. Nothing. “What do you want with Jane Corrigan, Gavin?”
“That’s not really any of your business, Nate.”
“My grandmother is definitely our business. So answer his question.”
“You’re Matt Corrigan? I knew you looked familiar.”
“I am. Nate and Aiden are the heads of security for my company. I won’t ask you again what you’re doing here.”
“The NSA just raided my house and arrested Faith for treason.”
“Excuse me?’ His eyes bug out, then go cold as ice.
“It was a shock to me, too.”
“Get the word out, Nate,” Matt says and then looks back at me. “Thanks for the info, but you could’ve called. Why are you here?”
“I actually couldn’t call from my phone. That’s part of the problem. I’d rather explain it just once. Which means I need to see your grandmother.”
“Fair enough. We need to pat you down. And I should warn you—Faith’s friends aren’t going to take her arrest well. They’ll want blood, and since they all know just how much you’ve hurt her, you’re likely to be the default target. The only reason you’re still standing at the moment is because I want to hear what you have to say. After that, all bets are off.”
“I get it. I’m here to try and help. I’m pretty sure I was lied to, and now I need to make it right.”
I lift my arms while Matt and Aiden pat me down. When they’re satisfied, we head into one of the elevators. Matt uses a retinal scan to activate a secret panel inside. We go down, instead of up, which is a little surprising, but with everything that’s already gone on today, nothing should faze me.
The elevator opens into a cavernous room filled with computers and monitors. People are running around, yelling things to each other. In the middle of the chaos is a small blonde who I immediately recognize. I stop short when I see her. I guess I can still be surprised.
“Holy shit. You’re Zack Taylor’s girlfriend.”
All conversation stops until the football God himself speaks from behind me. “Fiancée, actually.”
“What are you doing here? You should be at the stadium.” Ainsley’s looking at him with concern in her eyes.
“I heard about Faith from one of the team executives. He was meeting with the senator when she was arrested. He said it in passing, but I knew immediately who he was talking about. I need to help break her out.”
“We’re not breaking her out, Zack. Well, at least not unless we absolutely have to. I appreciate the offer of help, though,” a woman I recognize from the photographs I’ve seen, tells him.
“Anytime, Reina. I mean I could pretend to be visiting and throw a football bomb or something.”
“Honey, you’re a receiver, not a quarterback. It wouldn’t look natural for you to throw the ball. And we’re not putting a bomb in your football. That would make you the number one suspect. If we need you, I’ll call you. I promise. Now please go back and practice. This weekend’s game is an important one.”
“Babe.”
“I love you, but you’re just going to distract me if you’re here. I need to focus on who did this to her.”
“I think I know.”
All heads turn to me again. I tell myself to show no fear, but I don’t think it’s working. The amount of hostility that’s pouring my way could knock out Hercules. It’s really that strong—I can feel the hate like it’s a physical thing.
“What exactly do you think you know?” Ainsley asks me.
“We should probably sit down. It’s not a fast or easy story to tell.”
“I’m staying for this,” Zack says as he pulls Ainsley to him. She looks like she might protest, but he silences her with a kiss.
“We should go upstairs and let everyone down here continue their jobs.”
Reina leads us all into elevators, and we head back up to the main floor into the foundation offices. We follow her into a large conference room that has a cool middle table shaped like a star with extra seats all around the wall.
Everyone in the room finds seats. Moments later, Jane Corrigan and Cyndi Evans enter the room, along with three other women around their age—I’d been told they were involved, but now I know. I just don’t know if what I was led to believe is true. I really don’t think it is. Behind them come some more women, and a couple of men. When everyone is seated around the room, I begin to tell my side of the story.
“Two months ago, a woman named Elizabeth approached me at a party in D.C. where she told me that a secret organization of women was about to go after my mother and frame her for selling state secrets. I laughed her off at first. I mean, come on, a secret society of women? That’s right up there with Kennedy conspiracy theories.”
“But you did eventually believe her, didn’t you, Gavin?” Mrs. Corrigan asks me.
“Yes. After she showed me pictures of Faith shooting people, while wearing many different disguises. The one…the one I remember most was of an old woman on her knees, begging for her life. In the next shot, she’s on the ground shot by Faith’s hands. How was I supposed to not believe that she was evil? That you all were evil?”
“That women spent her life pretending to care for the needy children in her city, when in fact she was selling them nightly to the highest bidder. Thousands of children suffered before Faith ended her life,” Reina tells me.
“I-I didn’t know that.”
“Why would you? We don’t advertise what we do for a reason, Gavin. If we’re exposed, we can’t help people. While we can’t save everyone, we do the best we can to make a difference.”
“I shouldn’t have believed Elizabeth. But like you said, I did. I began a personal relationship with her while also helping put the plans of her, and her boss, into motion.”
“You knew who Faith was at the ball, didn’t you? That’s why you slept with her.”
“Yes, Mrs. Corrigan. I did.”
“You son of bitch,” Matt Corrigan says as he lunges for me.
It takes both of his friends and Zack Taylor to stop him from getting to me. “Nothing you can say to me is worse than what I think of myself at the moment.”
“I’m fine. Let me go. I won’t hurt him. Yet.”
“Please continue, Gavin. Just be aware that I will unleash my grandson, his friends, and every woman in this room on you if I need to.”
“I understand. So yes, I approached Faith knowing who she was. I didn’t think she’d go home with me, but I had to try. We had a great night where I found that I actually liked her. It wasn’t until she started working with me that ‘like’ started turning into ‘love.’ I do love her. I promise you that.”
“If you love her, why did you dump her? Or was that all part of your plan to begin with?” Reina asks me, her eyes blazing through me like a laser.
“No, Reina. I swear it. I wasn’t ever expecting to fall in love. When I did, I wanted to end everything. But Elizabeth’s boss convinced me that I was just being blinded by lust. I needed to protect my mother. At least, I thought I did. Now, I’m not so sure.”
“We’ll come back to your mother in a minute. Tell me more about Elizabeth’s boss.”
“I’ve only seen her once during a video chat. Her name is Selene.”
All of the women at the table stand at once, looking beyond pissed. It’s Reina who speaks, and I swear the temperature in the room must drop about fifty degrees when she does.
“That bitch should’ve
learned her lesson when she was fired. If she thinks I’m going to let her hurt Faith again, she’s dead wrong. I swear to you, Jane. I will kill her with my bare hands.”
“Wait, she worked with you? And hurt Faith? Oh my God! And I helped her do it again?”
“You didn’t know, Gavin. But you do now. Choose a side before we go any further.”
“I’m here, aren’t I? I choose whatever side Faith’s on. I’ll help you in any way I can. Just tell me what to do.”
They sit down and Reina faces me again. “Why are you not worried about protecting your mother anymore?”
“When Faith was arrested, she came into the room afterward. There was something off about her response to all of it. She didn’t seem surprised, and well, I just was getting a weird vibe off of her.”
“I wasn’t surprised, Gavin. I knew someone was stealing state secrets. It’s definitely not Faith, but it is someone who works for me.”
“Mom, you’re a part of this?”
“I’m the one who asked for their help, but I’m not part of their organization. Just a friend.”
“So Faith knew you weren’t involved?”
“No. None of us knew,” Ainsley says.
“I needed Faith, and by extension the rest of the women, to suspect me so she could clear me without prejudice. When everything came out, I had to be above reproach.”
“That’s why you liked her from the beginning.”
“No, Gav. I liked her because she made you happy. I could see it the first day she came to the house. She challenged you and didn’t give you an inch. I’ve never seen you smile so much. The fact that she’s a part of this organization was an added bonus.”
“How did you even know who to ask for help?”
“The most powerful women in the world know this organization exists. Those on the side of evil will never find it because of the many protocols put into place when asking for help. But if you’re honest and one of the good guys, you’ll pass the test and be granted a meeting.”
“How does Selene know about it? And how could she be sure Faith would be the one assigned to all of this. Elizabeth was sure she would be.”
Jane Corrigan is the one who answers. It seems to almost cause her physical pain to tell me what she does. “Selene used to be one of us. She was with us almost from the beginning and was in charge of martial arts training. Most of the women tend to become more compassionate while working with us, but she went the opposite way. Selene became harder. I saw it happening, but thought we could control her by keeping her in the building and not sending her out on missions. It wasn’t until Faith came to us during her training three years ago that Reina and I realized she was out of control.”
“Faith caused her to be fired? Shit, no wonder she hates her.”
“Faith did what the rest of us should’ve done. We were too scared to speak up when she hurt us. Granted, we just got bruises, but I still blame myself every day because if I had said something, she wouldn’t have been able to hurt her.” The blonde with the bright red lips and rocker clothes starts crying as she tells me this.
“Stella, it was not your fault. I wish all of you who trained with her would’ve felt comfortable coming to me or Jane, but what happened to Faith is all on Selene.”
“Wh-what did she do to Faith?” I ask. I’m scared to know the answer, but I have to.
Reina turns to look me in the eye. “Selene is a very vain and proud women. She prided herself on creating the best fighters in the world. She saw it as a black mark on herself if she couldn’t produce the results she wanted. Faith was not the best fighter when Selene was training her, and because of her Asian heritage, that seemed to anger Selene even more than usual. She had a stupid, stereotypical notion that Faith should’ve inherently been the best fighter here. Selene started punishing her by throwing knives at her, and beating her with nun chucks. Faith kept quiet for all of that. It was when Selene broke all of the fingers in her right hand—to keep her from cooking—that she came to us. After that, the other girls told us what had happened to them.”
“Holy hell. I got in bed with the devil—or her minion, at least. You fired her and thought that would be enough?”
“No, Gavin. We knew firing her wouldn’t be enough. I challenged her to spar with me. She knew she couldn’t win because I’m the best fighter here—I’m not being egotistical, just honest, but she was too proud to turn me down. I unleashed all the anger I felt for not protecting everyone on her. I stopped myself from killing her, but she was injured. She had to crawl from the room. I thought she’d be too stupid to try and mess with any of us again,” Reina tells me.
“If I’d been here, I wouldn’t have let her live.”
“We can’t all be as bad-ass as you, Matt. I had worked with her for years. She was like a sister to me.”
“I’m not putting you down, Princess. Just stating my truth. And pointing out how different we are.”
Reina opens her mouth, but then closes it again, shaking her head. Cyndi breaks the tension by speaking to me.
“To answer one of your other questions Gavin, Faith was the natural choice for this job because she has the skills to pose as a personal chef. Introducing her into your household was easier than trying to replace one you mother’s staff members.”
“I can’t believe you knew all this and didn’t tell me,” I tell my mother, looking her in the eye.
“I wanted to, but I saw changes in you once you started dating Elizabeth. Now I know why. At the time, I just saw you becoming cold and distant.”
“Yet, you changed your political views and went back to your old self when I asked you to—with no complaint.”
“I was already planning to announce the changes. It was time—I had adopted a certain persona in order to win elections. The real me was always inside, waiting for the right time to come back out.”
“I’m so sorry, Mom. I was trying to protect you, but I ended up helping the people going after you. And now Faith.”
“I have a bad feeling about this. I’m afraid that Faith was the target all along. And I’m also afraid that someone on the inside is helping Selene. There’s no way she could’ve had so much information without knowledge from here,” Reina says, the ice back in her eyes.
“No, Reina. Who would help her?”
“I don’t know, Tegan. But someone did. Since you and Ainsley are the only other two really involved in this, I need you both to take a hard look at your teams. Audrey, I want you to look into Faith’s people.”
“I was involved, too. I dressed her. I know we’re just fashion, but my team has access to information, too.”
“You’re right, Stella. Look into your team as well. I want the mole found as soon as possible. Susan and Gavin, I need you to go home and keep acting shocked around everyone there.”
“Umm…just so you know, our whole place is bugged. So is my phone, and I think my car might be. I left my phone at home and drove downtown to rent a car to take here.”
“Gavin! You let those people invade our privacy?”
“I really thought I was protecting you. I know I’m an idiot, okay?” I need to say the rest, even though it’s really bad. They may kill me right now, but I say it anyways. “Also, Selene wanted me to get a sex tape of Faith and I to use as leverage.”
Nate is on me in seconds, and I’m knocked out of the chair. Blood is flowing out of my nose as he lands another punch on my jaw. “You piece of shit bastard.”
“Enough.”
It only takes the one word from Jane Corrigan to make Nate let me go. I stumble back into my chair as Matt casually hands me some napkins.
“Thank you for stopping him, but I deserved that.”
“Yes, you did. But we need things to be normal. Your broken nose and jaw are going to cause suspicion already. Having you dead would only make things worse.”
“There’s no tape, just so you know. She got a call and said a friend needed help. She left the pool house before we did anythin
g.”
“I was the friend. Her phone sensors picked up the cameras and I called to warn her. We were concerned that if I disabled them, whoever put them there would realize we knew, so she was going to go through with it.”
“What the fuck?” Matt asks.
“That was pretty much my sentiment when I ordered her to leave,” Reina tells him. He nods at her, and she smiles.
“It was because I couldn’t get the tape that Selene made me start pretending to be with Elizabeth again. She wanted Faith to suffer—because of her being evil. And, of course, I believed her.”
“I don’t even know what to say to you right now. How am I supposed to go back to the house and act normal with cameras and microphones everywhere?”
“I fucked up,” I say as I get out of the chair. “I know it. God, do I know it. And it cost me the woman I love. I’ll do anything to help her. To help all of you. Just tell me what to do, and I’ll do it.”
“You’d do anything, Gavin? Even if it got you killed for doing it?”
“Yes, Matt. I would.”
“No.”
“Mom, I did this to her. It’s already killing me to know that. If I can save her, I’ll do whatever it takes.”
“We won’t let him be killed, Susan. You just earned some respect from the people in this room by saying you’re willing to go that far,” Jane tells me.
“No offense, but there’s only one woman I care about impressing.”
“None taken. We all need to focus on Faith at the moment. As for your house, because you were just raided by the NSA, I would expect you to have your place swept for bugs. Use that as a cover to remove everything. Up your security so it will be harder to get in. Sweep everyone coming in for weapons and devices. Except for us, of course. In fact, I think you should head things up, Aiden. They don’t know you yet—you weren’t here when Selene was, and unlike Nate, you haven’t been in the house.”
“Or kissing Faith.”
“You kissed Ainsley, dude.”
Zack Taylor growls at that. “I’d prefer to never talk about that again, Aiden.”
Devouring the SECRET (Corrigan & Co. Book 2) Page 7