As I run toward my dorm, the security guard appears outside. Tyler—the sweet nighttime one.
“Hey, asshole!” he shouts at Kyle, heading right for him. He’s nearly twice his size. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
“Please don’t let him come in.” I realize I’m limping as I make my way to the entrance. “He tried to choke me.”
Tyler nods as he continues toward Kyle. “Hey, why don’t you and I have a conversation, friend?”
“This isn’t over, Cleo!” Kyle shouts after me. “I’m getting my fucking phone back!”
Katrina
THE DAY OF
When Cleo emerged from the brownstone a half hour later, enough time for sex maybe but not much else, I felt only angry—at her, then at myself. Especially because I had no idea who she’d seen, much less if sex had anything to do with it. I followed her back to her dorm, watched her go inside, waited until her light went on and then off.
And then I got another text. My phone shook as I read the message.
Tonight. Three million dollars. Routing info below.There was a row of numbers.If it’s not there by midnight, she’ll be the one who pays.
Darden wasstillmaking threats? Was Mark really not going to make them stop? Or had he tried and been unable to? Both felt like terrible options.
The text was followed by a new picture—this one of Cleo going into her dorm from a different angle. In the corner of the photo was a guy in a red baseball hat, a guy I realized I’d seen walking past me only moments ago. Whoever sent the picture must be very close.
This was escalating, quickly. I couldn’t wait for Darden to make the next move, couldn’t trust that Mark would protect us. Couldn’t trust that I even knew who Mark was. I was going to have to deliver a preemptive strike, and hope it landed.
I stayed on the bench, watching Cleo’s room until dawn, then called McKinney’s friend to take over and sent a message to Ahmed at Digitas asking him to trace the anonymous texts. I’d held off asking him to trace the messages earlier, because the last thing I wanted was anyone I worked with knowing about them, even someone outside the firm. I wasn’t the only lawyer from Blair, Stevenson that Digitas helped with research. But given the threats to Cleo, I’d no longer felt I had any choice. I also texted Mark, who suggested we meet at the office right away.
Even with Cleo in safe hands, I couldn’t quell the nauseating worry in my gut as I got off the elevator on my floor at Blair, Stevenson. There was no one there that early on a Sunday. I expected Mark picking the deserted location was not an accident.
As soon as I was out of the elevator, I could see the door to my office was wide open. I hadn’t left it that way. I was sure of it.
The ransacking had been thorough. Drawers gaped open; papers and files were strewn all over the floor. Even my locked desk drawer had been pried open and emptied. No one had bothered to clean up, either, because that’s where we were—in a place where pretenses were no longer required.
Down the hall I found Mark behind his desk, facing his computer. There was another man, leaning against the windowsill—gray pinstripe suit, well-coiffed salt-and-pepper hair, artsy black eyeglass frames. Phil Beaumont, Darden’s general counsel. I recognized him immediately. I’d seen him on TV—Xytek wasn’t the first scandal Darden had weathered.
“Is someone going to put my office back together?”
They both looked at me standing in the doorway. And for a long moment, the only sound was my pulse pounding in my ears.
“Kat. So good you’re here,” Mark said with forced brightness. But it was too late for him to act like this was all some unfortunate accident he was trying to help them weather. People weredead.Cleo was in danger. And Mark’s getting whatever it was he really wanted out of this Darden situation—billables, prestige, power—was certainly no excuse for his continued participation in this fiasco.
“Get them away from Cleo, right now,” I said, keeping my eyes on Mark while jabbing a finger in Phil’s direction. “They arestillthreatening her.”
Mark offered a weak smile. “Kat. Please. We are going to get this all figured out.”
Phil turned to me, expressionless. “Those documents you have in your possession are privileged, and they are the property of Darden Pharmaceuticals. Turn them over or you’ll be disbarred.”
I whipped around to face him. “You threatened mydaughter,” I shot back. “You’llgo to jail.”
“What are you talking about?” Phil made a face, like he had just tasted something sour, then turned to Mark. “What is she talking about?”
“I told you she mentioned this,” Mark said, aiming an accusatory look Phil’s way. “I warned you about doing anything extreme.”
“No one threatened anybody’s daughter,” Phil said to Mark. Then he turned back to me. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. That never happened.”
I dug out my phone and clicked on one of the two photographs of Cleo. “This.This is what I’m talking about.” I held the phone up at eye level, making sure both men got a good look. “There were also men in a car, watching me. I saw them more than once. They took this picture. They’re threatening my daughter, and it needs to stop.”
“We didn’t have anything to do with that photo.” Phil almost sounded amused. “That looks like the work of an amateur.”
