Shaking my head, my gaze catches on a company email from the first victim. Opening it, I scan the contents, and my eyes snag on a few select phrases—unauthorized funds and shady business dealings.
I’m about to read the whole email in detail when we’re interrupted by the office door swinging open and Noah yelling something from down the hall.
I can’t hear what he's yelling as a dozen CIA agents swarm the office, guns raised and aimed at Owen.
Shooting to my feet, I instinctively put myself in front of Owen. He clutches my arm, and I back up into him until my spine is plastered to his torso. He’s tense but oddly steady.
Declan walks in a moment later and notices me first. Surprise briefly crosses his face before he schools his features.
“Don’t do this, Dec,” I plead, staring only at him, shaking so hard I might collapse.
Declan’s face falls when he hears the raw desperation in my voice. “I have to, Nova. I’m sorry. We have the evidence. It’s over.”
What? How?
“I didn’t send the evidence!” I scream. “Give me more time!”
Declan shakes his head sadly. “You don’t have more time, Nova. The success of this mission will help the vote go your way in your trial. The panel will look the other way.”
“I don’t give a shit about my trial!” My voice is breaking now. All my hopes fall with his admission that I’m out of time. That I failed—not the assignment but Owen.
I wanted to save him. I wanted to prove that he isn’t the one who should be behind bars.
Everyone wants to capture the villain. No one understands that sometimes the villain isn’t the one who should be locked up.
This is not how I imagined my secret being revealed to Owen. I wanted to tell him when I had all the information I needed to get him out of this mess, when I had something to save him with.
I realized my mistake too late.
“I care, Nova.” Declan sounds almost as broken.
Declan knows. All it took was one look at Owen and me. How easily I forget how well he knows me.
“If you take him, Dec, I’m going down with him. I don’t care what you say. This is wrong!”
Declan’s gaze falls to his feet, unable to look me in the eye as he gives the signal.
The agents surround us, prying me from Owen. I shout, or I think I do. I claw at the hands separating us, desperately reaching for the man I’ve come to love.
They pin Owen’s hands behind his back and cuff him. He doesn’t struggle like I do.
I want to shout at him to fight, but he won’t. I know he won’t.
Owen finally turns his head to look at me. He gives me a sad smile, before turning away as the agents lead him out of the office.
He doesn’t say a word, his silence hurting more than his anger would.
As the door shuts behind them, the remaining agents release me, and I drop to my knees. The tears I held back begin to fall from my eyes.
A warm hand presses on my shoulder. I look up to find a concerned Declan.
“You got the wrong bad guy, Dec,” I say through my sobs.
“He committed murder, Nova.”
“And how many people did those men kill? How many humans did they traffic? How many died indirectly as a result of their dirty businesses?” I want to shout, but it comes out as a croak, my voice dry and spent.
“I can’t change the laws.” Declan sounds defeated as he crouches beside me, hand still on my shoulder.
