“I knew I liked you for a reason,” he said.
22
JAY
My dad lowered his head into his hands. His shaking hands.
“Dad. It’s gonna be okay, I promise. Dan and Ry are meeting up with Neil right now to give him a heads-up, and I’m going to go through all our accounts to make sure every single thing is as it should be. If this Operation Foxglove really are investigating us and they bring in an auditor, they’re not going to find anything that’s not completely above board. The only way they could know about our sideline is if one of us tells them directly, and we’re not going to do that. So they have nothing.”
He sighed heavily. “I hope you’re right.”
“I am. I’m gonna go through this line by line, okay? Why don’t you talk to Mum and Priya and reassure them? They’re not involved with anything illegal anyway, and you’ve made sure you’ve shielded us from that side of the business, so they don’t even have to lie. Your blood stores aren’t on the premises, and there’s nothing to connect your name to them anyway. Everything else is just rumours. You can’t prosecute someone on rumours.”
“How did it get to this point?” My dad shook his head, and I noticed the glimmer of tears in his eyes. “I’m supposed to be the parent. I’m the one who’s supposed to keep my family safe. Yet here you are, taking this on. You shouldn’t have to worry about my problems. You should be focused on your degree, and hockey, and having fun with your friends. Not…this.”
“Dad.” I pushed off the wall where I’d been leaning while he recounted what had happened when the police had shown up at the clinic. Crossing to his chair, I squeezed his shoulder. “I don’t know if it escaped your notice, but Priya and I are both functioning adults, and you don’t have to worry about keeping us safe, okay. And…you know…I have friends in high places.” I thought for a moment. “Or low places, depending on your point of view.”
My dad almost cracked a smile at that, some of the heaviness lifting from him. “Even so.”
“Even so, nothing. We’re family. We look out for each other. And that’s what I’m going to do right now.”
A loud rapping on my dad’s office door cut through my concentration. I swore under my breath, rubbing at my eyes. “Come in.”
The door opened, my two best friends coming into view. “Special delivery,” Dan announced, dumping two pizza boxes and a bag on the desk. “You’re safe now, so don’t waste your breath telling us to leave. It’s after hours, and the police don’t have the resources to watch a closed rich-people clinic all night.” Reaching into the bag, he pulled out cans of Coke, energy drinks, bottled water, and an assortment of chocolate bars.
“What’s all this?”
“Your dad showed up at the meeting we’d arranged with Neil and Des. Uh…the meeting we’d arranged but was taken over by Guillotine Graham.” Dan glanced over at Ryker, presumably expecting some kind of reaction, but Ry remained impassive. After a second or two, he shrugged and continued. “He gave us a rundown of everything that went down at the clinic, and he mentioned you were here, going through the accounts. We know what you’re like when you get focused. You haven’t eaten, have you?”
I shook my head, and that was all it took for him to open the pizza boxes and start dividing the pizzas between the three of us. Ryker shoved an energy drink at me, giving me a small smile that reassured me more than words would have.
“You two are the best fucking friends I could ask for,” I said around a mouthful of pepperoni pizza.
“Yep.” Dan nodded as he peeled pepperoni pieces from his slice so he could arrange them in a line down the centre. “Told you earlier, we’ve got each other’s backs. How’s the accounting shit going?”
I groaned. “It’s going. I’ve been able to reconcile most of the accounts except for the one that covers facial cosmetic surgery. For some reason, the accountant my dad uses has it password protected, and I can’t get in.”
“Try ‘Password123,’” Dan suggested, and Ryker rolled his eyes.
Tapping the computer monitor, I indicated towards the login screen. “Even if I could guess the password, it wouldn’t work because it has 2FA.”
Dan’s brows rose. “What the fuck is 2FA?” He smacked himself in the face a second later. “Two-factor authentication. Yeah, I know, I know. It’s been a long day, okay? And there’s other shit going down at the port, and thefucking Bellinghams are probably involved with this whole rural crime investigation, and?—”
“We might be able to bypass it,” Ryker cut in. He pulled out his phone, scrolling through his contact list. When he placed his phone on the table, I could see Volkov’s name on the screen.
Fucking brilliant.
The screen colour changed, and Volkov’s voice came through the speaker. “Thorpe.”
“Volkov. I need your assistance. I need you to get me in touch with someone who can get through two-factor authentication.”
There was a pause, and then Volkov’s low drawl sounded again. “I will need more information.”
Ryker gave him a rundown of the situation. When he was done, there was a long pause, and Ry’s jaw clenched. “Your family has connections. Can you help?”
“This isn’t a favour for you. It’s a favour for Attwood.”
“Don’t fucking act like it doesn’t concern you. They continue this investigation, and I guarantee you that your family is gonna get pulled into this. You bankrolled us, like you never fucking let me forget,” I ground out, and Ryker shot me a warning look.
