“Nice to see you ladies, too. At least it would be nice if you weren’t both trespassing,” Sergeant Tom Hadley says, crossing his arms and blocking our exit.
“Tom,” Rory exclaims, her face settling into aninnocentsmile. “Hi! Is that what that tape was about? Tris was just showing me where she grew up, but we’re all done here now, so we’ll be on our way,” she says on a hopeful and enthusiastic note.
Too bad Tom isn’t buying it. His brow raises, and he looks between us before something shifts. His shoulders drop, and gone isSergeantHadley, the man who stood in this house around a year ago and spoke to me like I was a stranger. Instead, all I see is Tom, the man who’s Levi’s best friend and, as of recently, became one of mine.
“What are you two thinking?” he asks, exasperated, sounding more like an angry parent than an officer of the law.
There’s even a hint of concern in his voice that surprises me, but makes me realize that he’s exactly who I need right now... well, him and Callie that is.
“Before I tell you, I need a lawyer,” I say, making him take a surprised step back. “It’s not like that, Tom. We found something,”
“Tris,” Rory warns, nervous about what I’m about to say since she hasn’t known Tom as long as I have.
But Idoknow Tom Hadley, and one thing this town can count on is that he always does what he believes is the right thing. I just need to convince him that this is it.
“I want to help you and the FBI bring my father down, but I can’t do that without speaking to a lawyer first. I can’t trust any of the lawyers my family has used. I’m sure my father has them all in his pocket. Can I trust you? Will you help me?” I ask, my pulse beating so loud that I can hear it in my ears.
“Trust goes both ways, Tris,” Tom says, tilting his head down and narrowing his eyes.
I nod my head slowly, understanding what I have to do.
This is the moment of truth, and there’s no turning back.
I reach into my bag and hand him the folder. He opens it, and the more pages he reads, the wider his eyes open.
“Where did you find this?” he asks, still turning page after page.
“Hidden compartment in the drawer of the desk.”
Tom shakes his head and pulls out the USB. “What’s on this?”
“No idea,” I tell him.
He closes the folder, runs a hand through his hair, and looks away before meeting my gaze.
“I see now why you need a lawyer. This is incriminating but not enough to prove you had any idea—”
“I didn’t,” I clarify quickly, ready to defendmyself if I have to.
“I know,” he says. Maybe it’s because, for once, I’m not being looked at as the bad guy that hearing him say that makes my throat constrict with emotion.
Rory must notice, because she steps closer and links her arm through mine.
“This evidence is enough to convict your father, Tris,” he says slowly.
“I know.”
The weight of everything settles over us, and for a beat, no one says anything.
“Alright. Here’s the plan. Tris, you and I are going back to my place. Callie is home, and between the two of you, I’m confident you’ll have this figured out quickly. After you do that, I’m taking this evidence back to the station and filing it. No matter what.” His gaze passes between Rory and me, and he closes his eyes as he shakes his head. “The story is you came to me wanting to help, and we came here together to follow the lead. The tip led us to the collection of this evidence. Our warrant to search this place is still valid, but it doesn’t cover protecting anyone from trespassing charges, so Rory, you were never here.”
“Never here, got it.” Rory salutes Tom, and he rolls his eyes, but a smirk tugs at his lips.
“How did you know we were here?” I finally ask as Tom locks the front door behind us.
“You tripped the silent alarms when Miss Locksmith over here unlocked the door,” he says, looking over his shoulder with a raised brow at Rory. “Wave to the camera.”
He points to one of the decorative trees on my family’s porch that I didn’t notice earlier. Sure enough, there’s a small hidden camera inside of it.
