Page 78 of Wrecked

* * *

On our way to the bookstore, Beth calls Shane. They have a pretty emotional conversation. I hate eavesdropping on them, but as we’re trapped in the back seat of a taxi cab, I don’t have much choice.

Beth tells Shane she wants to see him—needsto see him. She’s whispering to him over the phone in an attempt to keep their conversation private. I can’t hear his reply, but I see her tense. I guess he’s too busy with the image analysis work they’re doing to prove Luciana faked the photos of Shane.

Finally, she says, “Okay,” and then she ends the call, looking utterly dejected.

I reach for her hand. “Don’t worry. You guys are going to be fine.” For her sake, I hope I’m right.

* * *

Beth gets quite the welcome party when we walk into Clancy’s. Everyone’s so happy to see her back, especially Erin.

I follow Beth upstairs to her office. She tries to put on a happy face, but I can see she’s hurting.

She receives a text from Lia, who’s checking up on her.

Then she receives a second text that completely turns her mood around. “Shane’s coming!”

If he’s coming, that can mean only one thing. He has the proof he needs to prove his innocence to Beth.

Twenty minutes later, Shane walks into Beth’s office looking pretty damn pleased with himself. The guy looks absolutely worn out. His suit and shirt are wrinkled, his tie is missing, and his hair looks frazzled. I doubt he slept a wink last night.

A second guy, young, blond, with wire-rimmed glasses, is with him. I recognize him from work. It’s Scott Anderson, who works in the digital forensics lab.

Beth jumps up from her chair and runs to Shane, meeting him halfway. They hug and kiss like they’ve been separated for ages and not just overnight.

“Come with me,” he says, taking her hand and leading her from the room.

We all end up in the security control room. Scott pops a thumb drive into a computer and brings up the images in question. He goes through the images, one by one, pointing out various features. The first image is of Shane, but the next three, the really problematic ones, are not. The bottom line: the images of Shane kissing Luciana, copping a feel, and grabbing her assare fakes. It’s not actually Shane in those pictures. It’s a body double. Scott proves these images were taken at a later time by capturing a timestamp on a nearby parking meter.

After all the discussion and debriefing is over, Beth says to Shane, “Take me home. Please.”

* * *

That night, Cooper lets himself into my apartment around midnight. I’m already in bed. I hear him in the bathroom brushing his teeth. When he walks into my bedroom, he’s wearing just a pair of black boxers.

My heart leaps at the sight of him. “I was starting to think you weren’t coming.” My gaze follows him as he walks past the foot of the bed.

“I almost didn’t. I wasn’t sure I’d be welcome.” He slides into bed beside me.

“Of course, I wanted you to come.”

“I’m sorry about earlier—Beth walking in on us. It was my fault. I shouldn’t have been so reckless, knowing she was in the other room. I got carried away.”

“It takes two to tango, you know.”

Cooper scoffs. “Yeah, well, I fucked up, and I’m sorry.”

“She seems fine with us being together. How’s she doing? I saw that Shane was able to prove those images were frauds.”

“She’s fine. She’s just happy they’re together.”

Cooper makes no sexual overtures to me that night. No touching. No stroking. He does pull me into his arms and hold me close. He says, “Goodnight, baby,” before he kisses my forehead.

From our time together, I’ve learned that when Cooper feels guilty about something, he abstains from sex. I guess he doesn’t think he deserves it. So, right now he must be feeling pretty guilty.

“Goodnight, Danny,” I murmur as my eyelids grow heavy.