Eli exchanged a glance with Delaney. This could be a lie. It could be a setup. But if Wade was telling the truth, everything they thought they knew about this case had just shifted hard.
Delaney’s voice stayed even. “Why would Vivian want you to scare someone at the institute?”
Wade’s eyes narrowed. “She didn’t tell me that part. Just handed me the cash, gave me a burner phone with a number to call for updates. I never used it. Didn’t want to get traced.”
Eli spoke for the first time since Wade’s outburst, his voice low. “So you took a job with no context and tried to kill two security operatives?”
Wade shrugged, his expression defiant. “Wasn’t supposed to kill anybody. Just keep the heat on you two. Stir things up, make the people inside that place nervous enough to give up the kid.” He leaned back in the chair, like he’d just explained away a parking ticket. “I kept my end of the deal. No shots fired at the institute. Just rattled the cage like she asked.”
Eli narrowed his eyes. “You expect us to take your word for it?”
Wade lifted his chin. “Phone’s in my car. Not that it’ll help much. She wore gloves when she handed it to me, along with the envelope of cash.”
“Convenient,” Eli muttered, arms crossed.
Wade’s expression twisted with frustration. “It’s the truth. I’m telling you how it went down. You’ve got motive, a name, and now the method. That’s more than enough. And now that you know what really happened, there’s no way you can stick me with attempted murder.”
Eli stepped forward, planting both hands on the table. “You fired at us. You hit Delaney.”
“I hit her in the arm,” Wade snapped, then smirked. “Not exactly a kill shot.”
Eli had to do some serious tamping down of his own temper. He forced himself to breathe through the heat rising in his chest. Wade might think he had the upper hand, but this wasn’t over. Not even close.
Delaney didn’t flinch. She stared straight at Wade and said, “It might not have been a kill shot, but you fired openly at two people. That’s enough for two counts of attempted murder. And that’s just the start of the charges coming your way.”
Wade shot out of his chair and charged right at Delaney. “You smug bitch—”
Eli was on him before the word finished, slamming him against the wall so hard the table rattled. Eli leaned in, low and tight. “Make a move.I dare you.”
Wade’s nostrils flared. His fists clenched, but he didn’t swing.
The door burst open, and with Noah right behind her, Sheriff Chase strode in. “I’ll take it from here,” the sheriff said, her voice oozing with disgust for this piece of shit.
“I want a lawyer,” Wade snarled. His gaze flicked to Delaney, filled with rage. “I should’ve put a bullet in your head. Both of you.”
Eli tightened his grip for half a second before stepping back.
The sheriff cuffed Wade and shoved him toward the door. “You’ll get your lawyer. Right after I lock you in a cell where you can cool off.”
Wade kept cursing as she dragged him out. Eli stood there for a beat, pulse still hammering. Then he looked at Delaney. She hadn’t moved. Her eyes were hard.
“I’m fine,” she said, reading his expression.
But he wasn’t sure he was.
Eli stared at the empty doorway for a moment before turning back to Delaney. She stepped beside him, her expression unreadable.
“Do you believe him?” she asked quietly. “That Vivian hired Wade?”
Eli dragged a hand down his face. “I don’t want to. But it’s possible. If Vivian thought threatening the institute would get Ava out, maybe she thought it was worth it.”
Delaney crossed her arms. “That’s a hell of arisk.”
He nodded. “It is. And there’s another option. Someone else hired Wade and told him to pin it on Vivian. It’d be a clean way to frame her.”
Noah looked between them. “We need to check every angle. I’ll get Isla to pull the phone records and see if we can track the burner that Wade was supposedly given.”
Eli looked at Delaney. Her jaw was tight, her gaze locked on the table like she was trying to burn through it.
