by Eve, Jaymin
I’d leave that as plan B though, because I was hoping that there was a way this could all work out and I wouldn’t end up spending the rest of my life in jail. That there was a path that ensured I got to keep Riley, and that we’d have a fucking chance at a normal future. Riley said she had a plan. We’d try it her way first, and maybe, just maybe, there would be some sort of future left for us all when the dust settled.
6
“Get in here,” Selene ordered, grabbing me by the arm and yanking me through her front door. “Not you, tough guy.” She blocked Beck’s entry with her body, placing her hands on her hips and glaring.
Beck opened his mouth—undoubtedly to argue—but I gave him a stern headshake. I’d already warned him that Selene would likely want to talk with me alone.
“I’m fine, Beck. Just wait with Dylan.” I indicated to our friend’s car parked inconspicuously in a driveway across the street. Or as inconspicuous as a half million dollar car really could be in a middle-income neighborhood. He’d driven us, seeing as both Beck and I only had two-seater cars and it was way too much of a battle to argue he stay behind. Jasper and Evan had already been here keeping watch, and they'd taken off now to get some sleep. I was fucking lucky to have these guys in my world.
“Butterfly...” he growled, giving me a look.
“I’m fine,” I repeated. “Go.”
He looked like he was going to argue the subject, but Selene didn’t give him a chance. Planting her palm in the middle of his chest, she shoved him out of the doorway then slammed the door in his face.
For good measure, she flipped the locks before she turned to face me.
“Start talking, Riley. Why the fuck is my brother in jail under suspicion of murder right now?” Her fists were planted on her hips and her scowl fierce, like I was to blame for all the bad shit in Dante’s life.
Maybe I was.
“Babe, don’t interrogate her in the hallway,” Selene’s husband yelled from the living room, then appeared a moment later, looking rough. “Hey Riley, come in.”
He indicated for me to head through to the sitting room and I did so. The shit I needed to ask them—or to tell them—it wasn’t standing conversation.
“Sorry about Selly,” Rob apologized with a pained smile when I sat down. “It’s been a long night. For all of us, I’m sure.”
The way he phrased it sounded like he understood what a spectacularly crappy night it’d been for me, but Selene just snorted and glared at me. She’d sat down but her arms were folded tightly over her bathrobe. Her hair was a mess and plaid, flannel pajama pants showed between her robe and her slippers, but I’d hazard a guess that she hadn’t slept all night.
Neither had her husband if the bags under his eyes were any indication.
“Can I get you some coffee, Riley?” Rob offered. “I suspect this chat needs the caffeine boost.”
I gave him a nod and a tight smile. “That’d be great, thanks Rob.”
He left us to make the coffee, giving Selene a kiss on the forehead as he passed, but she just glared harder.
“So, you had goons watching my house all night,” she stated. “I take it that means Dante’s arrest was something to do with your new life?”
Her aggression was starting to piss me off. After all, she’d known about all of this a hell of a lot longer than I had.
“You tell me, Selene. I’m not the one on Catherine’s payroll.” I snapped the words at her, and she visibly paled. Her frown slipped and her eyes widened with... fear?
“Neither am I,” she spluttered, her cheeks blooming with warmth and her gaze ducking away from me.
“No, but Dante was,” I whispered, feeling sick just saying it out loud. “Did you know?” My voice cracked but I powered through. “Did you know that Catherine killed my parents?”
Selene’s gaze shot back to me in horror, and she pressed a hand to her lips. “Oh my god, Riles,” she breathed. “I’m so sorry. No, God no. I had no idea...”
Tears were rolling down my face again, and I swiped at them with the back of my hand. The relief that she hadn’t known was almost staggering. “That’s not why I came here. Dante said he gave you some evidence? I need to see it.”
She shook her head in confusion. “Wait, what about Dante? All Rob could find out is that he got arrested at some rich kid house party where a girl was raped and stabbed to death. Riley, you know he didn’t do that. He wouldn’t.”
I hesitated a moment before I replied. “Yesterday I would have agreed with you. Now I don’t know what he’s capable of.”
Selene gasped, and Rob paused halfway back into the room with a tray of mugs.
“You don’t honestly think he’s guilty, do you?” Rob’s smile turned into a scowl. “I know he’s not exactly on the right side of the law in everything he does, but you and I both know Dante has a good heart. He just had a shitty upbringing and a crappy role-model.”
Rob plonked the tray down on the table, sloshing coffee out of the mugs before taking a seat himself.
“I don’t know what to think anymore,” I admitted, looking down at my hands as I picked my midnight purple nail polish. “I just need whatever evidence he left with you, Selene. This shit... it’s bigger than just a murder charge.”
“What could possibly be bigger than my little brother getting framed for murder?” Selene demanded, her hands shaking as she clutched at her robe. “He’s in this mess because of me! None of this would have happened, he wouldn’t have ever got mixed up with you, if it wasn’t for me.” Her voice was shrill and pained, and I could see tears welling up in her bloodshot eyes.
Rob must have seen she was about to lose it, and he wrapped her in a side hug from where he sat, smoothing her hair with his hand and shushing as she sobbed into his shirt.
“It’s not your fault,” I whispered, anxiety twisting my stomach in knots. “It’s Catherine’s fault. It’s all Catherine’s fault, and we’re going to make sure she doesn’t get away with it.”
Selene was still crying, but she nodded and mumbled something about getting the documents before shuffling out of the room in her slippers.
“How do you plan to do that?” Rob challenged me when Selene was gone. “Catherine sits on the board for one of the world’s most powerful companies. There isn’t a single industry, legal or not, that Delta doesn’t have its fingers in. Do you have any idea how many agents from every area of law enforcement have tried and failed to take Delta down? The whole world knows they’re dirty, but they practically own the world, so they keep getting away with it.” He paused, his lips tight in anger and his nostrils flared. “Framing Dante for murder is just a game to people like Catherine Deboise.”
I nodded. I understood what he was saying but…
“That’s all true, but have any of those agents had insiders? Me, Beck, the guys... we have access that law enforcement doesn’t have. What if we had the evidence which would put Catherine and the other board members in jail?” I was grasping, hoping that something in Dante’s documents would help. But even if it didn’t, I’d keep trying.
Catherine was going to pay for what she’d done to my parents, one way or another. Even if I had to kill her myself.
Rob seemed to be thinking about what I’d just said as he sipped his drink, staring down at the floral sofa cover. “You’ll need someone in law enforcement that you can trust,” he finally said, and hope flared inside me.
“I trust you,” I said, nervously tapping my fingernail on the side of my own mug.
Rob shook his head. “No, I’m just a beat cop. I mean, someone with the power to make something happen if you get any usable evidence.”
Selene came back into the room then, clutching a thick brown envelope to her chest. “I’ve never opened this,” she said softly. “He made me promise. He said that I was only to give it to you in the case of his death, because he couldn’t protect you any longer…”
My heart was hurting so badly, my chest ached like I’d been punched right in
it. “He lied to me for years. Years! I don’t know how to move past this.”
Selene looked like she wanted to argue with me again, that fierce look in her eyes as she opened her mouth, but then she just shook her head. “Sometimes people fuck up, Riles. But he did it for the right reasons, I promise you. Deep down, his intentions toward you have always been pure. He loves you.”
I didn’t reply because I really couldn’t talk about it any longer. Turning to Rob, I changed the subject. “Talk to me about finding someone in law enforcement.”
His expression was calculating, and it was obvious why he’d been such a tough beat cop for years. “It doesn’t have to be in law enforcement. Just find someone with a working knowledge of the justice system, even better if it’s a judge or lawyer, to help you build the case. But keep in mind, no one will take you on unless you have irrefutable evidence of their corruption.”
That didn’t surprise me at all. And since we had one shot at taking them down before they buried me, I would not screw it up. Lawyer or judge…
A memory hit me. A memory I hadn’t wanted to dwell on because it required me to think about the day I almost got raped, but that girl in my class … she’d said her father was a high-powered lawyer in New York City. Maybe she was my answer, but how could I tell if he could be trusted?
“Is there an easy way to see if someone is on the payroll of Delta?” I asked Rob, not expecting he would have the answer.
He shrugged. “They’ll have files on everyone they do business with. Your boys should be able to get access to that.”
Especially Beck. Or maybe Richard would allow me access as well. We had to do it without arousing suspicion though, because as I’d thought before, the moment the board got wind of us trying to take them down…
It wouldn’t be pretty.
I stood suddenly. “I’ve got to go,” I said before I finally met Selene’s red-eyed gaze. “I’m sorry this is all happening, girl, and I might be angry with Dante, but I won’t leave him there to rot. I’m going to figure out how to fix both of these things, and ensure Catherine can never touch us again.”
She nodded, her arms wrapped tightly around herself. For the first time she looked her age, sorrow weighing her down.
“If you need our help, just ask,” Rob said, standing with me. “You’re not alone.”
A tear tracked down Selene’s cheek. “We’re family,” she whispered.
I smiled best I could before I turned to leave, brown envelope clutched in my hands.
As I expected, Beck was right outside the door, his expression dark and scary. “Let’s go,” I said softly, and his cheek twitched as he fought to get himself under control.
“I don’t handle it well when you’re out of my sight, Butterfly,” he said with a soft menace. “Not with everything that’s happening.”
I patted his shoulder. “I know, babe, but it’s going to be okay. I needed to talk to them alone.” He fell in beside me as we walked from their apartment. It wasn’t until we were in the car with Dylan that I spoke again.
“Rob said we need someone in either law enforcement, a judge or a lawyer to try and take Delta down, and we need irrefutable evidence of their corruption or wrong doings. He said so many people have tried to prove this before and all have failed.”
Beck and Dylan snorted. “It’s almost a running joke on the board now about how they’re untouchable,” Dylan said.
I nodded. “Yep, but they’ve never had people on the inside go up against them. We’re in the perfect position to take the bastards down, we just need to find the right person to help us.”
Beck eyed me closely. “You have someone in mind?”
“Remember that girl, Sami, from class. She said her father was a high-powered lawyer in the city. Maybe we should look into them … you know, see if they’ve done any business with Delta before.”
Beck nodded. “That’ll be easy to check into. I have access to all of the servers as Beckett proxy.”
“We could also look into some of the officials who tried to take Delta down recently,” Dylan suggested. “See if any name stands out.”
I nodded, and Dylan started the car so we could get out of this area. “What’s in the envelope, Riles?” Beck asked, his eyes falling to the brown package I still had clutched to my chest.
I swallowed hard. “Whatever Dante left for me. He asked his sister only to give it to me when he was dead, but apparently in jail for murder is close enough.”
Neither of them pushed me to open it, even though I could see the curiosity in their eyes. “Should we wait to be back with Evan and Jasper? I asked. “Do they even know everything that’s going on?”
“They know,” Beck said shortly. “I filled them in while you were asleep. Right now they’re running interference with the board, making sure they don’t look too closely at us.”
“They’ll meet us back at the apartment,” Dylan said softly, typing into his phone. “We should wait for them.”
I settled back, relieved that I had a few more hours before I had to face whatever was in this envelope. Something told me, it would be devastating.
7
“Riles, you don’t look so good,” Jasper said, and I hated how uncharacteristically serious he was right then. Not even a sliver of humor danced in his eyes. No teasing. No sexual innuendos. Nothing.
“I’m nervous about what might be inside,” I admitted. “Like, I already know Dante betrayed me. I know that he was working for Catherine. But part of me is still making excuses, and maybe those excuses are right—he was forced, he was a child, he didn’t want to betray me, he still fought to protect me as much as he could. Or… maybe all of that is bullshit and he’s just a lying bastard. Either way, the answers are inside.”
Jasper wrapped an arm around me, and I sank against him. “We’ve got you,” he murmured. “Whatever is inside, we’ll face it together, because that’s the only fucking thing that has kept us all alive over the years.”
Evan snorted, his expression dark. “Yeah, except for Oscar.”
Oscar! Fuck. I’d forgotten that he was another piece of our puzzle to investigate. “Guys! We forgot to follow up on his missing body.” Seriously, how the fuck did we forget that?
“We need to figure out what happened to him.”
They nodded. “We’re still looking into it,” Jasper said. Maybe I was the only one who forgot. “But there’s not a lot to work with right now. When we get past this Delta situation, we can focus on the Oscar thing.”
Yeah, I supposed that was fair. Oscar was dead and nothing would bring him back. But the rest of us … we hadn’t kicked the bucket yet, and to ensure we stayed topside, we had to take Delta down.
Beck walked out of the kitchen, handing me my cup, filled with beautiful, perfect, lifesaving coffee. “Figured you could use that,” he said, sitting beside me so I was sandwiched between him and Jasper. Evan and Dylan were on the couch across from us.
All of us stared at the envelope on the glass-topped coffee table.
No one pushed me to open it, which was so unlike their normally impatient selves, and it made me put on my big girl panties and reach out to grab it. I ripped the top off the seal before I could think twice about it.
Upending the contents onto the table, I found a cell phone: small, black, and totally beat up. One of those cheap burner types you’d get from Walmart. Thankfully, it powered up immediately when I pressed the button. There were also assorted pieces of paper; some that I could see looked like records of bank transfers.
Dylan immediately flicked through the paperwork, while I opened the messages on the phone. There was only one contact that messaged or called this phone, and it was not Catherine’s number. Or at least not the number I had for her. I scrolled back to the very earliest message, noting the year on the timestamp was 2009.
Unknown: You have your first assignment: befriend the girl. Remember. You fail, and your family will suffer. Your sister will suffer. This is a job, and I expect
you to do it right.
This was it, the moment that Catherine blackmailed someone into keeping tabs on me. Someone who would become my best friend and one of the only people I’d ever trust.
Beck and Jasper leaned over to read with me as I scrolled through the messages. Most of them were standard stuff, but there were a few which turned my stomach.
Collect blood samples. Collect urine samples. Collect DNA.
“Dante refused to do some of them,” Jasper pointed out. “Like the DNA one.”
That was true, I could see the return messages where he’d argued with her. Catherine had allowed him some leeway in what he did, and I could see that some of the answers he gave her were modified. Some even false.
“He lied to her a lot,” I said, “about me. I can kind of see where he was trying to help me.”
I kept scrolling, my heart pounding harder because we were coming up to the dates close to my parents’ deaths.
Unknown: Weekly schedule of the parents. Condition of their car. I need both immediately.
Dante: Why?
Unknown: It’s not your job to question me. Just know that circumstances have changed, and I have need of this information.
Dante: Are you going to hurt them? Or Riley?
Unknown: Falling in love with your job is a bad idea, gangbanger. Remember that everything you have in this life, is because of me, and I can take it all away. How’s your niece?
“She doesn’t even try to be subtle,” I choked out before scrolling farther down. Dante had listed my parents’ work hours, my after-school activities, and our weekly dinners out.
I paused at a text to a different number. The first number that wasn’t Catherine. A number I knew very well. Dante: Riley is in danger. Stay put for more instructions. This is a life and death situation. Trust me.
My breathing came in and out in gasps.
“What is it?” Beck asked sharply.
“That’s my dad’s number,” I whispered. “He texted that to my dad on the day we crashed.”
