He giggled. “Well, I wouldn’t have anyone else kidnap me,” he said. “Only you.”
I kissed him. “Tell me about these documents, and why someone is trying to kill you for them.”
Like I’dbeatenit from him, he let out one exhausted sigh against me, draping both arms by my side. “It’s a document the CEO signed to have the results of the trial disregarded. It’s the only document that counts.”
“Okay, this is good,” I said, “I don’t know why you hid this from me.”
He smirked, but behind that smile and those eyes he was full of worry and tears. “I hid it because, well, I actually didn’t have it until you brought it to me. And I feel awful because I know this isn’t just about me, this is about all those familieswho lost people. They didn’t get closure. In fact, they didn’t get anything. And that’s wrong.”
“What did I—” It was obvious now, it was in Mr. Thimble. “I’m glad I found him. He was hiding in the space between the nightstand and the bed, you know. Maybe we were going a little too rough that night.”
“Glad you stayed over.”
“Me too, and not just because I saved your life, but because you saved mine as well.”
We lay back as much as we could on the comfy leather office chair, swaying from left to right as my feet guided the swivel of it. “I promise we’ll get that fucker. He’s not getting away with killing people.”
Ezra snorted. “That’s why I don’t want you getting involved with the lawyer and the FBI. You’ve—you’ve killed people.” His voice turned quiet, like someone was listening, and he glanced to the computer screens. “And you got paid for it. Right?”
“Right. I have a lot of protection too,” I said—a partial lie now, and I didn’t want to lie to him. “I have some protection, I think. How about after a couple more days here, seeing if I can whip up a legal team, we head over to the mainland?”
He nodded. “I think we’re also running low on food.”
“No way, this place is stocked for months. There’s an entire basement with rations.”
Ezra teased me, calling me a doomsday prepper. Around Ezra, I didn’t know who I was. I wasn’t trying to punch my out aggression on the jaws of people in cage brawls. I would, but Ezra’s effect on me was a neutralizer. Maybe this was the first time I’d ever been in love, perhaps that’s what this feeling was.
It was strange.
***
After all the searching, we finally had three lawyers who were willing to work together with us on the case. Lena Vasquez, Dillon Betts, and Riley Novak. Each of them ran their own firms. They were scrappy, and each of them had won some form of healthcare fraud case. They were more than eager to help Ezra, and they were just as eager to go for the jugular s of the CEO as I was.
We were on a video call, and the three faces stared back at us. Ezra was in the big seat as I stood behind him, a hand on his shoulder, helping him stay calm and in control over his emotions on this
“We can get to work on this immediately,” Lena Vasquez said, her image appearing larger as she spoke. “I’ve got brothers who know these streets. We’ll make sure it’s safe for you to come back here and really get the work done.”
“I agree,” Dillon said, his picture now appearing. He looked a bit too strait-laced to be helping, almost like he should’ve been on the opposition. “I’m so happy to be part of this. We have a benefactor who’s more than willing to pump funds into this, so they won’t be able to bleed us dry over time.”
The third person, Riley, with they/them pronouns, was also on the video call. They were quieter, although their appearance was loud. Bright blue hair, three nose piercings, and an eyebrow slit. “The Novak Defiance will work hard to make sure the PR on your case doesn’t make you look like the bad person. We know how much these things can fuck with your image.”
The tension and heat radiating from Ezra’s body increased. I squeezed lightly on him, letting him know I was still there, but trying not to say anything. I knew the brothers Lena was referring to, and I knew the work Riley had done in PR before. I didn’t know too much about Dillon, other than that he came from a rich family. The Betts.
“Once we’ve gotten your signature, we’ll work on getting information from the FBI,” Lena said. “And once we know what we’re working with, we can get you back here and expedite some hearings.”
“Let’s get these fuckers,” Dillon laughed.
“Just stay put,” Riley added. “We’ll work together to create a strategy, and we’re glad those other firms you reached out to declined to work with you. I’ve worked with Lena and Dillon before on other high profile pharma cases.”
Ezra sank into the seat, his picture on the screen nodding back at him it seemed. “I saw the work you did to put that guy behind bars for hiking up the pricing on the anti-viral AIDS drug.”
Lena let out a chuckle. “It wasn’t what we got him for, though.”
“No, we but that’s what the public knows, and you eventually got it put on record, so it was added to hischaracter,” Riley snickered.
“We’ll get this sorted out for you,” Dillon said. “I also heard you went to Whitespire.”
Ezra hiked up in his chair and reached for my arm. It was the sign.
