I reached for the remote and turned down the sound. Blake’s focus was unflinching.
I sat beside him and tugged gently at the hem of his collared shirt, hoping to break him out of his trace. “Blake.”
His chest expanded with a deep breath and he glanced over at me. His eyes were distant, as if he was deep in thought.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
I frowned. “Of course.”
“Clay told me that Max approached you.”
I exhaled a breath and nestled against his side. “Alli told me he was sentenced when I got back. He was on his way to the station to get booked.”
“What did he say to you?” Tension laced his words.
“Nothing,” I lied.
“Erica.”
“Nothing important.”
Max was gone now. A closed chapter. At least until they let him go again. I couldn’t think about that, though. He’d promised Clay he’d never see me again. I could only hope that might be true.
Blake was silent, yet somehow I could hear him demanding that I give him what he wanted. His muscles tensed beside me.
I sighed. “He said, ‘He’ll ruin you.’”
“Me?”
I drew circles over his jeans where the muscles in his legs bunched. “Assuming he meant you, yeah.”
I lifted my head to gauge his reaction and try to read his thoughts. He closed his eyes and looked away, effectively blocking me out.
“Talk to me, Blake,” I pleaded.
“What do you want to talk about?”
There was an edge to his voice that gave me pause.
“How about we start with yesterday? What happened?”
“The FBI and the police took turns interrogating me for nine hours. That’s what happened.”
I hesitated over what I wanted to ask. He seemed wound tight already, and we’d barely spent five minutes together. But I needed to clear the air. Above all, I needed to get him talking so we could get to the bottom of this.
“What did you tell them?”
“I told them whatever I felt they needed to know.”
I didn’t like the ambiguity in his tone. We’d been incredibly close last night, and now we felt a million miles apart again. Was he hiding something from me? I twisted the diamond bands on my finger, contemplating all the things he might not be telling me.
“Is there anything you didn’t tell them that you want to tell me?”
Then our gazes locked. I searched his eyes but found nothing.
“What are you talking about, Erica?”
“I mean… What happened with the election?”
He laughed lightly but there was no humor in his voice. “Are you asking me if I did it?”
I left the warmth of his side and stood. I paced a small circle in the room, suddenly needing some space. I swallowed over my next words, not wanting to admit that’s what had been burning in the back of my mind ever since he walked out of sight with Evans yesterday. “I guess I am.”
He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “You think I took time away from a month-long honeymoon with my bride to rig Daniel’s election, ruin his career, and risk mine? No. The answer is no. I did not do that.”
My shoulders softened, tension releasing. “I’m sorry, Blake, I—”
“Me too, Erica. I thought that would go without saying, but maybe I haven’t given you enough reason to give me the benefit of the doubt.”
“It’s not like it’s beyond your capabilities.”
He grimaced. “So everyone keeps reminding me.”
“I just thought—”
“I would never hurt you, Erica. I fucking hate Daniel.” His jaw tightened, as if he were biting down on a thousand things he wanted to say. “I won’t deny that I despise the man, and I’ll be the first to admit that I relish the thought of ruining him. But I don’t hate him enough to put you and me in harm’s way again.”
A few minutes passed between us. He sat back into the couch, arms crossed, his gaze landing everywhere but on me.
“What did the police say? They couldn’t have found anything linking you to it, right?”
“They consider my connection to you motive.”
According to Carmody, that could play out against us either way, depending on whether Blake intended to hurt or help Daniel. But the way Gove shut down that line of questioning assured me that it wasn’t nearly enough to hold Blake on.
“That’s not enough.”
He was silent, yet somehow the silence told me there was more.
“What else do they have?”
“The voting machines were rigged using my code.”
Ice hit my veins. I stilled my aimless pacing. “What code?”
“Code I wrote years ago when I was developing the banking software. There are unique encryption routines that were used, and the feds have spent the past two weeks studying them, linking them to me.”
“You can’t be the only one who could have done that.”
“It’s banking, Erica. With billions of dollars on the line, there are only a few people with access to the source code.”
The wheels in my head spun, and gradually I began piecing together the possibilities. “Okay. So who has it?”
“Me, of course. Michael Pope, and a select few at the company we sold it to.”
“Why aren’t the police talking to them?”
He sighed heavily. “I’m assuming they are, but all of this is so close to me that they aren’t looking much further. I’m their best bet. Beyond that, it seems like Evans is on some sort of mission. Wants to nail me for what I did a decade ago with some fresh charges.”
I’d gotten the same impression from my brief time around Evans. Carmody didn’t inspire trust either, but between the two of them, Carmody didn’t act like he already knew the absolute truth. He was still looking for it, and it remained to be seen what either of them would find in an effort to paint Blake as the guilty party.
My mind spun over this new information. Banksoft was a multibillion-dollar company. That they’d have a leak, one with any interest in the Massachusetts governor’s election, seemed unlikely. If Blake was telling the truth, and I believed he was, the breach had to be rooted from Michael’s copy. Michael would never hurt Blake, but his son Max certainly would.
“Do you think Max could have given Trevor access to it?”
Blake nodded slowly. “I’m assuming that’s the case.”
“Did you tell the police that?”
“No.” The simple answer was clipped.
“Why?”
“Because fuck them.”
I gasped. “Fuck them? They’re trying to send you to prison, Blake. You’re not even going to try to point them in the right direction?”
“They have nothing on me, Erica. I was out of the country. They’re going to waste weeks looking for some shred of actual evidence linking me to the election, and they won’t find it, because I didn’t goddamn do it.”
My breath was ragged in my chest. All of this new information had my adrenaline spiking. “That’s it? You’re going to wait for them to clear your name?”
“What do you want me to do?” He threw his hands up.
I walked closer, my hands fisted tightly by my sides. “I want you to work with them to get to the bottom of this. You and I both know this wasn’t random. Trevor has targeted both of us. He’s been trying to infiltrate your work for years, but this is different. This is your freedom we’re talking about, not some website that we’re working on.”
“They aren’t going to work with me. I don’t have access to the code. If I did, I could find what they aren’t finding.”
“Then let’s find it. You know how to get information.”
“I’m under a fucking microscope. They’re going through my computers with a fine-tooth comb. You think they aren’t going to be watching what I do like a hawk now?”
He looked away, his gaze fixed on some point on the distant horizon. I didn’t kn
ow where he was, but I needed him back with me. We needed to get to the bottom of this, and quickly.
“Why do I feel like you don’t want to fight back even if you could?” I sat down beside him and took his hand. “It’s because of what happened to Brian, isn’t it?”
Silence filled the room as he held his ground. Finally he turned, his eyes tired and devoid of the fierce determination that I had grown to love about him.
“This has nothing to do with Brian.”
“I think you’re wrong. I think it has everything to do with him. Whatever happened between you two back then, the guilt has stayed with you. You haven’t let it go, and neither has Trevor. And now history is repeating itself, and that’s exactly what Trevor wants. He wants to see you suffer for what happened to his brother. And while you’re getting interrogated and our lives are being ripped apart, he’s out there somewhere planning his next move. He’ll never stop until he takes you down.”
“Enough!”
I startled at the tone.
He rose quickly. Cursing under his breath, he grabbed his jacket and moved for the door.
I hurried after him, unwilling to accept him leaving again so soon. “Where are you going?”
“I have to meet with the attorney and figure out a game plan. We need to be ready for whatever they come at us with.”
“Does he know about Trevor?”
He turned to face me. “Let it go, Erica. I’m taking care of this. It’s going to blow over. Trust me.”
“How is that you ‘taking care of it’?”
“Just… trust me, okay?”
“No.”
His eyes widened. “No?”
“Not until you tell me how you’re going to find Trevor.”
His jaw tightened as he shrugged into his jacket. “Fucking drop it, Erica.”
Anger rushed in over the tears that threatened. “I’m not going to stand by and watch you ruin your life.”
“I’m not ruining my life,” he muttered.
“No, you’re ruining our life. Remember every decision we make affects the other. Or does that only apply to me when I don’t do what you want?”
He winced and reached for the door handle. “This conversation is over.”
Before I could find a way to make him stay, he was out the door.
Emotion burned thick in my throat. I wouldn’t let him give up this time. Every time Trevor threatened us, Blake had turned the other cheek. Not this time. Never again.
Blake’s Tesla sped down the street, and I retreated into the empty house. I sat at the island in the kitchen contemplating what to do next. I couldn’t shift gears and focus on work right now. I was too angry. Too scared that contrary to what Blake said, this situation would not simply blow over.
“Damnit.” I slammed my hand on the counter, curling my fingers around the pain. My throat tightened and tears burned behind my eyes, but something in me refused to let go. Crying right now felt like somehow I would be giving up. I wouldn’t—I couldn’t. Instead, that sick feeling came over me again. Except this time it didn’t pass. I ran to the bathroom and emptied my stomach into the toilet.
A fever rushed over me, and then my damp skin cooled. I stood shakily and wiped my mouth. The person I saw in the mirror didn’t look so good, but after several minutes, my wan complexion finally gave way to some color.
My clothes hugged my body. I’d gained weight on the trip. Weight that had replaced what I’d lost after the shooting. I traced the band of my jeans and the soft skin above.
A flicker of hope lit inside of me. An irrational and ill-timed hope.
It wasn’t possible…
I brushed my teeth. I tried to push the thought away, but a hundred possibilities swarmed my mind. Our love, this life we were building, Blake’s freedom, and maybe more was at stake. If he wasn’t going to protect it, who would?
Suddenly the chaos of my thoughts stilled, and I knew what I needed to do. I went upstairs into the closet and found my suitcase, ignoring the tangle of sheets and the reminder of our night of passion. Then I started to pack.
CHAPTER EIGHT
BLAKE
I’d spent the day at Dean’s office. Fitzgerald’s people were claiming ignorance about the whole affair, which might have been true. We ran through the timeline of the honeymoon in more detail. According to the time stamps the FBI supplied, I would have had to rig the elections on the flight from Cape Town to Malé, which would have been completely impossible since the code had been loaded by USB to the various machines, and I was thousands of miles away from those.
Beyond that, Erica had been the center of my world for weeks. Nothing had broken my focus on making the trip a memorable one for the both of us.
My mind wandered back to that simpler time. So much had changed in the space of a few days. This was anything but paradise. The honeymoon was over, and our life had begun. I refused to believe this was the beginning our future together.
Perhaps they’d turn the attention to Fitzgerald, but if he went down, he wouldn’t go alone. He’d implicate me just to spite me. He’d always believe I was behind it until someone told him otherwise.
And then there was Trevor.
If I’d ever had a desire to bring justice to his door—wherever that might be—I would have told Dean about him in the years past. But I hadn’t. And today wouldn’t be the day to bring it to light. Dean had spent a lot of time today explaining away any of my suspected guilt. Good practice for him, but I could see the wheels turning, the question burning in his mind. If I didn’t do it, who did?
I could hear Erica’s voice in my head, telling me to do the right thing. Tell him. Put them on the right path. But something inside me hesitated, and I stayed true to the path I’d always walked. No need to complicate matters anyway. Pointing fingers would probably only further convince Evans of my guilt. He didn’t strike me as the type of person who’d go on a hunt for someone like Trevor to save someone like me. Waste of time.
Dean searched for possible scenarios, and we agreed that the use of my code alone wasn’t a smoking gun for the case. Too many other people had access to it. Even if all signs pointed to me, it simply wasn’t enough. We had to wait to see if they could come up with anything more. That was the looming question mark. What would they find, if anything? And how long would we have to wait until all this went away?
The day was coming to a close and I scrolled through the email on my phone, eager for anything to take my mind off this mess.
“You should go home.” Dean circled his desk and tossed my coat on my lap.
“You’re kicking me out?”
“It’s been a long day. Go home and be with Erica. I’m sure she’s still pretty rattled over this.”
“You’d be right,” I muttered.
“She didn’t want to leave the station until they were done with you yesterday. I tried to put her mind at ease, but I knew she wasn’t having it.”
“Doesn’t surprise me.”
I worked my jaw, battling with my empathy and the person in me who’d never bent on this matter. I’d go home to Erica and we’d pick up where we left off this morning, which wasn’t a moment I was exactly proud of. Leaving her before we could talk things through. She’d cornered me, stood up to me. Not that any of that surprised me. She’d always had her own mind. I had seen that fire in her when she walked into my boardroom months ago. I never wanted to put out that flame. I wanted her to burn for me, fight for us, and that’s exactly what she was doing.
Dean dropped back down into his chair and cocked his head. “I have to say, I was curious to finally meet the woman who meant enough to you to skip the pre-nup, despite all my best advice. I only wish it had been under different circumstances.”
“Me too.”
Dean’s half joke reminded me that I’d agreed to share everything with Erica. I’d demanded it, despite her misgivings. Not just the wealth, but the joys and burdens too. A voice of reason reminded me that as much as we tried to battle our
demons in private, it never worked out that way in the end. As determined as I was to go to war with Evans on my own, Erica and I had bound ourselves too tightly for that.
With our earlier argument still weighing on me, I left Dean’s office and made my way down to the street. The sun had gone down. The days were shorter, the nights colder. Except my nights were never cold when Erica was with me. God, I couldn’t get her out of my head. We were on two sides of a line and she kept calling me over. I wanted to relent, but something held me back. I walked the streets of downtown Boston until I was in front of my office. The windows were dark.
I pushed through the doors and let myself into the empty bullpen. I flipped on the lights, revealing the wasteland of our office. Every desk was a mess. Wires had been pulled and were strewn around the floor. Cady had called earlier, confirming that the authorities had confiscated all the machines in our office. But somehow seeing it in person stirred up a new kind of rage. Toward Evans. Toward all those faces I’d grown to hate when I was a teenager. It hadn’t seemed fair then and it sure as hell didn’t feel fair now, when I hadn’t done a goddamn thing to warrant it.
“You okay?”
I turned, and James was standing in the doorway.
“What the fuck do you think?”
He shook his head and backed away. “Sorry, man. I’ll leave you alone.”
I released the tension in my fists. “It’s all right. It’s just been a rough day. Sorry.”
He nodded and took a step closer, surveying the damage. “Alli told us what went down. It’s fucked up.” He hesitated, his focus landing on me. “You look like you could use a drink.”
That much was true. Though it wouldn’t get me any closer to resolution on the matters at hand. “Thanks, but I should get back home. It’s getting late. Erica’s probably wondering where I’ve been.”
He frowned.
“What?”
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