“Why wasn’t I there?” I argue. “I understand being safe, but this matter concerns me more than anyone.”
“That’s the exact reason. You’re clearly the target. Not me—”
Anger pushes out of me like a hot spear. “You can’t sideline me like this, and make decisions for me.”
“Jackie—”
“You are not my dad.” The words hit low, and he flinches. It’s a sore spot for him. “Stop using his tactics. I won’t accept it.”
“I only want—”
“To keep me safe?” I cut him off. “This is not how we are going to do this. You said you trusted me when I took over.”
“I do.”
“Then don’t treat me like a child. I might be your little sister, but you can’t run around doing whatever you think is best and leave me in the dark. This forced isolation in this town, instead of anywhere else in the world, is for your benefit, not mine. Soyouwon’t stress.” I won’t be the reason he lands in the hospital again, and Carter’s eyes widen at the realization. “But you can’t force me to stay. Pull another stunt like this, and I’m out.”
We stare at each other in silence. My chest heaves. I’ve been keeping the frustration deeply hidden, but this is not who I am. Somebody who steps back and leaves others in charge of her life.
Finally, Carter nods and hands me a file he’s been holding onto since he walked through the door. “The breaching attempts were nothing sophisticated, didn’t involve high-level techniques or cutting-edge technology. We can easily block them if they try again.”
I sift through the reports in the file. “So what’s the point? Everything they aimed to breach was superficial. Why plan the explosion? And the break-in at my place? It doesn’t make any sense.”
My brother nods in agreement. “We haven’t connected the dots yet, but their sloppiness gave Logan’s cyber forensic team a trail.”
“You know who they are?!” I spring up, ready to pack my bags.
“They’re in Nevada. A dark web extortion group.”
A glimmer of hope pumps me up. I’msoready to get it all over with. “We should let Turner know; maybe he’ll give a statement faster, and everybody will calm down.”
“The FBI have asked us to keep it under wraps until they round everybody up. Otherwise, we might lose them.”
I instantly deflate and plop back down. “We are just going to…wait?” The media scrutiny and the commission’s delay are only making things worse.
“They’re under surveillance. Nobody wants to risk missing an important piece of the puzzle that could come back and bite you in the ass later.”
We go through what else is going on back at the office: Joseph’s renewed efforts to set Logan up with the daughters of the ladies he’s on the boards with, and his son’s increasingly elaborate excuses to evade said blind dates.
By the time Mom knocks and pops her head around the door, I’m wiping away tears of laughter, imagining Logan, who survived several deployments in the most dangerous war zones, hiding from New York’s most eligible socialites.
We pace the grounds together, Mom inspecting Eliza’s new additions to the garden. Not that I’d know anything about it, but apparently they formed a bond over the proper way to prune a rose bush.
She gently lifts the leaves of a rose and nods approvingly before she’s on her feet, worry clouding her expression as she surveys me next. “Not sleeping?”
Falling asleep is a real struggle. Between all the doom and gloom scenarios racing through my mind about the company, and hearing Adam move in the next room, I toss and turn for hours. Then, vivid nightmares yank me from sleep, and I bolt upright, heart racing furiously.
There’s no point in burdening her with all that. “If that’s your way of saying I look like hell…I’m in the middle of the woods. Who cares?”
“Maybe you should talk to someone. I heard therapists do Internet sessions now.”
“They’re called online sessions, Mom,” I laugh. “Stop trying to sound older than you are. The little old me act doesn’t suit you.”
“Fine. Don’t want to be pushy, but you’ve been through a lot.”
“I’m fine,” I mutter, looking intently at the freshly cut grass.
She huffs, walking ahead of me, toward the dock. “That attitude didn’t work for your brother. You’re no different.”
