“He had to be shocked to learn about me at Christmas when she visited. And considering you were there, too, and Beth may be a link between the shit he pulled in the past—then to see you, Beth’s ex, near Audrey ...”
“But why not eliminate me as a possible threat after that? Wouldn’t he be worried we’d do exactly what we’re doing now, tying everything together? Why take the chance?”
Ryder gave me a sharp look. “You think you’re that easy to take down?”
True.“I guess he doesn’t care if we know the truth. He pretty much pointed us to it.”
“And while he may have wanted POTUS’s teams to handle his enemies for him originally, he probably decided who better to keep the woman he’s in love with safe than her family? But once we outlive our usefulness—and he has his revenge, payday, and Audrey—he’ll kill us.” He lifted his hand, patting the air for emphasis. “Not that we’ll let that happen.” He dropped his arm, grimacing. “I hate that you’re going to need to talk to Beth and convince her to help us. Putting you in this situation kills me.”
“Not sure how much she’ll reveal unless it works to her benefit.” And that terrified me. “But I’ll get her to tell us what we need.”
“There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t feel guilty for not talking you out of dating that woman to begin with.” Ryder turned toward the fire, resting his hand on the mantel.
“Remember me in my twenties?” I faked a laugh. “I didn’t exactly respond well to being told what to do. I’d have doubled down on dating Beth if you told me to steer clear from her.”
“You haven’t changed all that much now.”
I could feel where this conversation was going, and I wasn’t sure if I could stomach it. “Go ahead. Spit it out. I know you want to say what you didn’t get a chance to finish earlier.” At least he didn’t know I’d gotten his sister off against that piano.
He kept his back to me, head hanging forward. The fireplace crackled low, casting shadows over the worn-stone hearth as I waited for him to speak.
“You’re thinking about your nephew. About Trevor.” I finally said what I assumed was on his mind. “I know that because I’m right there with you.”
He pushed off the mantel and slowly faced me. “If Mitch ruined their marriage on purpose, and God knows how many times and ways he actually tried, then what if—”
“What if they’re supposed to be together and should never have split?” I went over to the armchair and collapsed into it. “I can’t come between them. If they’re meant to have a second shot, I refuse to be another Mitch and block that from happening.” I nodded, my stomach twisting. “So you have my word: Nothing will happen with Audrey until they have time to figure things out. And if they get back together, then I’ll saysayonara.” I saluted him with that goodbye, even though the casualness was utter bullshit.
“I just want you all to be happy, and it sucks if you finally found someone that makes you ... ya know, feel something again, and you can’t—”
“Can’t be with her, I know.” I took the illusion of being fine one step forward and shrugged before standing. “Some people just aren’t meant to be happy.” I gestured toward the hall, signaling to Delta Three. “I’ll always have Reed to keep me company.”
He lifted his chin, giving me a quietShut upembedded there. Neither of us were all that great at navigating feelings conversations. Like most operators, we sucked at it. And while I may have had the psych degree and often gave advice, I never took any myself.
“Listen, I’m not telling you to back off, but I agree with holding off until after Mitch is six feet under and my sister can see things a bit more clearly and figure out what—or, uh, who—she wants.”
I’d expected a more direct order to stay away, and Delta One was leaving me with a maybe. I didn’t know how to domaybes.
Hope and maybes were too dangerous. Because there was that inevitable coin toss of things not landing the way you prayed they would. And then what?
“Well, you have my word,” I finished saying as Reed and Audrey joined us.
“Gwen’s program got a hit,” Reed let us know. “She was able to confirm Arlo made contact with Mitch before he spun up on the op that he died on.”
I switched gears the best I could to focus up. Mission first.
“CCTV footage with a time stamp verifies it. The evidence of their meeting was scrubbed from surveillance footage, but Gwen found it. That had to be why it was missed before,” he shared. “Don’t ask me how she even knew where to look in the empty black hole space of the internet, or whatever she said. It’s even over my head.”
Which is saying a lot.
“But it looks like Arlo passed something off to Mitch,” Reed continued. “Something small enough to fit inside his hand. Probably a flash drive.”
“So, Arlo was murdered for whatever he knew, and since he gave the evidence to Mitch for safekeeping, Mitch must’ve figured it was only a matter of time before they’d come after him next. He hid the evidence somewhere safe and had a hacker cover his tracks.”Hopefully, Gwen can recover that footage from the internet black hole, too.
“So, Mitch mapped out an escape plan. He wasn’t sure who to trust since Arlo was killed and branded as a traitor. And maybe he ran out of people he could blackmail, or maybe they’re tied to this as well,” Audrey said, her tone sounding as unsure as I felt about all this. “But we know that man can play the long game. He’s capable of waiting a year to reap the reward of his patience.”
“Looks that way.” But I also knew firsthand looks could be deceiving. I wasn’t ready to commit to a theory yet. If my father had taught me anything, it was to always view everything as one of the three Ds: diversion, deflection, and deception.Between that and Beth, it’s no wonder I have trust issues.
“Did Gwen find anything else?” Ryder asked him. “Any idea who could be operating Stratos now?”
