The Truth Keeps Silent: A Second Chance Romantic Suspense (Truth & Lies Duet Book 1)

by A. V. Asher

  Free. Safe and free. It was real.

  Overwhelmed, she buried her head in her hands and breathed in.

  “Holy hell, that was brilliant!” Cressida exclaimed, rubbing her shoulders. “Don’t be sad, love. You know you deserve better than that tosser, right?”

  “I know. I thought I was going to lose it there.”

  Alec gently guided her chin to look him in the eye. “He was hoping you would cower to him, and you didn’t. You were brave.”

  Mercedes could only hope it would be that easy. Alec didn’t know the things Jason was capable of doing. Her stomach roiled at the threats he had made against her. The violence in him was tangible to her.

  “Can I get you anything?” Alec asked softly.

  “No thanks. I think I might go to bed, though. Feels like the longest day of my life.” Had it only been a few hours ago she was being broken out of the hospital?

  He nodded sympathetically. Then he put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her into him. “Before you do that, would you mind giving us a little more information about Jason? Something seems . . . off. I want to know what we’re up against.”

  Mercedes told them about Jason’s work, who he was associated with, and his access to surveillance technology. Cressida took notes as she and Alec worked through Mercedes’s limited knowledge.

  Alec stood and grabbed his jacket. “I was going to stay the night here and head back to the city in the morning, but I think it’s best if I leave now and stay away for a few days. It’s clear Jason thinks I’m involved.”

  Mercedes didn’t want Alec to leave but couldn’t find fault in his logic. They were likely staking out his apartment building and his office, waiting for her to show up.

  Alec walked her to her bedroom and stopped at her door. “I’ll call and check in on you. Shouldn’t be more than a few days.”

  “Can I keep your sweater?”

  His eyes softened, stealing her breath. “Aye, for as long as you like.”

  Mercedes embraced him. Alec wrapped his arms around her in a tight, lasting hug.

  “I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to thank you enough for all you’ve done. I’m pretty sure you’ve saved my life.”

  “Nah, you did that. I just offered a hand. You’re the one who took it.”

  She smiled and stepped away. He leaned down and brushed a kiss on her forehead. “Get some rest. I’ll see you in a few days.”

  And then he was gone. She snuggled into the bed with a smile on her lips and the warmth of his scent enveloping her.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Jason paced between the living room and kitchen, aware of the exhaustion biting at his consciousness. Normally, he slept easy, even after an incident with Mercedes. His iron stomach never let him down.

  But now, his gut churned with an unfamiliar wrenching. It had been three fucking days since she called him. It brought out a side of himself he didn’t know existed. It was beyond jealousy. Now it was a torturous visualization, like a movie was on repeat in his mind.

  What was McKinley doing to her right now? How many ways had he taken what was his? His brain spit the images out. Her chestnut hair cascading down her back. Legs spread while he went down on her. Fists grabbing his hair while she cried out under him.

  God damn it.

  “Will you sit the fuck down?” Patrick’s voice broke in. “You’re making me nervous.”

  Patrick had been eyeing Jason since he and Adam arrived. Jason pulled a chair from the table and dropped into it.

  He had finally gotten his hands on a lead. It was weak, but it was the only thing they had. The others were only half-ass looking for her. He’d used up all their goodwill.

  He jumped up from the seat again, his muscles aching to move. “We need to tap into our assets now, before he moves her.”

  Patrick stared at him. “We’ve been monitoring McKinley, and we know she isn’t with him. We’re not gonna blow through our resources because you’re worried she might be taking someone else’s dick.”

  Jason launched at Patrick, but Adam stepped in his path. Patrick lounged on the couch, sneering at him.

  These pricks didn’t know their place. “This is my call,” Jason growled. “And I say we go all in.”

  “Except this isn’t your call anymore,” Adam said.

  Jason glowered at him. “The fuck you mean?”

  “It’s simple. You fucked this up for the last time. Now I get to be in charge of this shitshow. And I say, there’s no justification for taking the risk.”

  “Like hell, there isn’t!” Jason shouted, the blood rising to his head.

  “Yeah, that’s what you keep saying. But you being a jealous fuck isn’t justification.” Adam got up from the chair and grabbed his sweater.

  Patrick stood as well and stretched. “By the way, you’re welcome for the sanitation work we did for you.” He nodded to the floor where Mercedes had lain in a pool of blood.

  Jason couldn’t look at the spot without his stomach turning. Instead, he glared at Patrick.

  “Look,” Adam said. “We can’t take on McKinley without taking heat. You’ve been dangling the carrot for months. You got the goods? Now’s the time to share. If I feel it’s worth pursuing, I’ll make the call. Otherwise,” he said, shrugging. “we have to let her go.” He reached for the door. “It doesn’t matter who’s pounding her, you or McKinley. Makes no difference to us. We won’t move until we have more than your cuckold fantasies to go off of.” Adam and Patrick shared a laugh.

  Jason fantasized what it would look like if he pulled this asshole’s tongue through a slit in his throat. He sat unmoving as they slammed the door behind them.

  He sat on the couch, his fingers massaging his temples. The movie played again. This time McKinley was plowing her from behind, and his gut wrenched.

  Fuck it. He picked up his phone and made the call.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Alec’s eyes burned from staring at the computer. He and Cressida sat together in his office, combing through the scant information they had gathered on Jason Marsh. The guy was a ghost. With each dead end, Alec became increasingly concerned with what they were dealing with. The social security number Mercedes had provided belonged to a Jason Marsh, but the birth year would make the man 102 years old. The company he worked for was a well-disguised shell corporation.

  “Well, I think I see why she stopped reporting him to the police.” Cressida slid her tablet over to Alec. “He almost convinced a police officer she was mentally ill and self-harming. Look, he nearly got her committed.”

  Alec reviewed the report written by the responding officer. They contemplated taking her in for a 5150, an involuntary commitment into a mental health facility. Jason reported the behavior, then talked the cop out of it.

  “Can you imagine what that would have done to her career?” Cressida pondered.

  Alec knew precisely what it would have done. Mercedes had worked at one of the most competitive legal firms on the West Coast of the United States. A whisper of something like this, and the sharks would come out to feast.

  Jason had her trapped long before he convinced her to move to London.

  The stone in his gut continued to grow as he read the final medical report from San Francisco. Jason’s name never appeared in it, but his stench was all over it. The hospital documented inconsistencies in her story, noting she was likely an abuse victim sheltering her abuser.

  Alec sat back in his chair, sick to his stomach. How could this have happened?

  “It’s not her fault, you know.” Cressida’s voice broke him from his festering.

  “I know. I’m just trying to understand what she saw in him.”

  “Dec told me the two of you have a history.” It wasn’t a question.

  “We do.” Alec took a breath and ran his fingers through his hair. “If I’m honest, it stings. When she was given a choice, this was who she chose. A manipulative abuser who held her hostage.”

  “She didn�
�t choose an abuser, not over you or her sister or her career. She chose someone who doesn’t exist.” Cressida shook her head. “You heard him the other night. Crying about how much he loves her one minute, screaming he was going to gut her the next.”

  Mercedes’s stricken face came to his mind, and his blood boiled all over again.

  Cressida sighed. “He’s a master at this. Every lie is designed to keep her off-balance. To manipulate her into believing he’s everything she deserves.”

  Alec brought his hands to his face, massaging his brow. “You’re right. I feel like such a prick for even thinking it.”

  “You’re not a prick. It’s not something everyone has experience with.”

  They sat quietly reading their various reports, the occasional soft click on a mouse and the whoosh of passing traffic the only sound between them.

  Alec broke the silence. “Cress?”

  “Hmm?”

  “We’re friends, right?”

  “Mm-hmm,” she confirmed, taking a sip of tea.

  “So, if I asked you to pack your things and move to the other side of the planet just so you could follow my girlfriend around, would you do that?”

  “Fuck no.” She didn’t look up from her reading. When he didn’t say anything else, she glanced at him. “I mean, I love you and all, but you’re going to have to pay me a shit-ton of money to move my arse anywhere.”

  Alec frowned at his computer. “The two men tailing her are American, right?” At her nod, he asked, “So how did Jason get them to drop everything and come to London only to follow Sadie around? Who has friends like that?”

  “You think he’s paying them? Why?”

  Alec shook his head. “I know abusive arseholes like him don’t follow a rule book or anything, but doesn’t this seem extra crazy?”

  “Oh, for sure. What do you want to do?”

  “Let’s pull the thread, see where it leads.”

  “You got it.”

  They were still working that afternoon when Declan came strolling into the office, a cup of coffee in hand. “Oi, we need to do something about that bed in the safehouse. It’s the worst.”

  Alec grunted a response. That bed was everyone’s least favorite part of staying there.

  Declan turned his smile to Cressida. “Morning, lass.”

  “Good afternoon, Dec.” She had a twinkle in her eye.

  Declan looked at his watch. “Damn. Is it afternoon already?”

  She shot him an exasperated look. “It’s nearly three o’clock.”

  “Oh, well then. It’s a good thing I got my work done before I drove all the way to the office.” He cocked his head. “I have a present for you.”

  “Do you now?”

  “Aye.” Declan plopped a stack of files in front of her. “Got a couple of hacking jobs for ya.”

  “Ooh, gimme.” Cressida grabbed them up and looked at Alec. “Do you mind? Won’t take long.”

  “Go ahead. We have time on this.”

  Cressida jumped up and gave Declan a smacking kiss on the cheek, and hurried off to the office she shared with Shake. One of Cressida’s favorite things was defeating the cyber systems of new or potential clients to demonstrate how easy it was to do. Declan’s eyes followed her down the hall.

  “Stop flirting with the employees,” Alec warned.

  “Stop flirting with the clients,” Declan shot back, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

  The color rose in Alec’s cheeks. “You’re an arse. And she’s not a client.”

  Declan chuckled.

  “How is she today?” Alec itched to see for himself, but it was better for him to stay away.

  Declan shrugged. “Sleeping.”

  “Still?” Worry clenched in his chest.

  “Aye, hardly heard a peep the whole time. Mason made her eat around ten this morning. Otherwise, she’s been out.”

  “She’s okay, though?” It had been four days. How much sleep was too much?

  “Aye, she’s braw. Mason’s not worried at all. She’s just having one hell of a lie-in.”

  Squeaking shoes outside the door announced Mrs. Downey was heading his way. She popped her head in his doorway.

  “You have a visitor, Alec.”

  He frowned. “I do? The calendar is clear today.”

  “Och, I know, lad, but he said it was an emergency and hoped you would make an exception. Says his fiancée has gone missing, poor lad. She’s a friend of yours.”

  Ice shot through his veins. He traded looks with Declan.

  “Did he give a name?” he asked Mrs. Downey.

  “Oh, aye. Jason Marsh. Should I show him in?”

  The widening of Declan’s eyes must have mirrored his own. Holy shit, he really came here? Ballsy. “Aye, show him in.”

  As she retreated down the hall, he pulled his gun from its place in his drawer, checked to see it was primed and ready, and put it in his holster. Closing his eyes, he inhaled deeply, allowing his mind to clear aside his feelings, moving the memory of Mercedes’s battered body away from him. Even in his mind, he needed to keep her safe from this man. The rage he had built toward Jason shifted to indifference. Alec was a trained liar, someone who had perfected shutting his emotions into their individual compartments so the mission could come first.

  Jason approached Alec’s door, an apologetic smile on his lips. Alec had only seen him in pictures and surveillance videos. He was an impressive-looking bloke. Classically handsome face with a strong jawline, and light blue eyes, and blonde hair. Definitely someone who liked to hit the gym.

  “Mr. Marsh, is it?” Alec walked around his desk and held out his hand. “Alec McKinley. Pleasure. This is my cousin and business partner Declan McKinley.” Declan offered his hand.

  “Please, call me Jason.”

  A less trained person wouldn’t have seen it, but Alec caught the falter in his smile. Jason wasn’t expecting a warm greeting.

  “Please.” Alec gestured to the chairs at his desk and walked to his own seat. “Can my assistant bring you anything? Cup of tea? Coffee?”

  “No, I’m okay, thank you,” Jason said, moving to the seat. Declan stayed against the window, leaning against the low bookshelf, watching Jason’s movements from the side.

  “I appreciate you taking the time to meet with me.”

  Alec waved it off. “Not a problem. My assistant said you were looking for someone, but I’m afraid I didn’t catch the lass’s name.”

  “Yes, my fiancée, Sadie. Mercedes Elliott? I understand you know her.” Jason paused. “She told me you were helping her find a job.”

  Fiancée is a new development. Alec threw it into one of the compartments in his mind.

  “Oh, Sadie. Aye.” He pulled out his favorite memory of her. They were sitting on a rock next to a waterfall in Scotland. Mercedes’s mouth was on his, his fingers tangled in her hair. The thought came and went in a matter of milliseconds, but the memory would be written all over his face. It had the desired effect. Jason’s smile grew tight.

  Alec cleared his throat. “I had coffee with her about a week ago. She didn’t say she was engaged.” Jason’s jaw tightened. Alec had struck another direct hit. “You said she’s missing?”

  “Yes, I last saw her on Tuesday in our apartment. We had an . . . argument.” He said this as if confessing something private and embarrassing. “I stayed the night away. When I came back home, she was gone.”

  Alec frowned. “Have you called the police?”

  Jason sighed. “No. I— I didn’t want to get them involved. She’s been struggling a lot lately and . . . I’m worried police involvement would make it even harder for her to find work.”

  “Why would that be?” Declan asked.

  Jason looked at Declan as if he had forgotten he was there. “She’s had some mental health issues in the past. She’s been known to harm herself whenever she’s stressed. Especially when we’ve fought.” He looked at his lap.

  “Well, I haven’t seen Sadie in a while, but
she always seemed to be a fairly level-headed lass,” Declan mused.

  “She’s good at putting on a show when she needs to. But over the last few years, the facade started to crumble. It affected everything. Her work, her social life . . . our relationship. On one occasion, the police wanted to take her to a psychiatric hospital. I talked them out of it.”

  “Have you called her sister?” Alec watched for any changes in Jason’s demeanor. The fucker was literally wringing his hands.

  “Charlotte and I aren’t on the best terms. When we were in San Francisco, Sadie began behaving . . . erratically. I tried to reach out to Charlotte to tell her how concerned I was for Sadie’s well-being. She didn’t take it well.”

  “Oh, Charlie and I get on quite well.” Alec reached for his phone. “I’d be happy to give her a ring. What time is it in California?”

  The offer was a risk. He couldn’t very well ring Charlotte with this bastard staring at him.

  “No, that’s okay. I wouldn’t want to worry her unless I have to.”

  “Of course. The offer stands if you need it.” Alec put his phone down and frowned. “Speaking of calls, I reached out to some acquaintances on Sadie’s behalf. One told me they had already heard of her. They’d been warned against hiring her.”

  Jason nodded solemnly. “I don’t know what she told you about leaving the practice in San Francisco, but I’d be careful about tying your name to hers.”

  “Really? She only said she made some mistakes, so they let her go.”

  “I guess you could say that.” Jason smiled ruefully. “She got a man killed.”

  Alec stared at him. “What do you mean?”

  “She had information on a whistle-blower who was helping them work on the lawsuit. One night, when she was drunk, she revealed the man’s identity. They found him dead a few days later. They lost all the evidence the same night, so the case was tossed.” Jason paused, letting it sink in. “That’s why she was fired.”

  Alec frowned, wondering how much of this was true. He hadn’t asked Mercedes for details about losing her job.