Page 65 of High-Priority Asset

Nothing in her life made sense.

“I’m sorry Allison was so horrible,” Dutch said, coming back into the conference room. “Can I get you anything?”

“I’ll help you retrieve the database, but he doesn’t want me to come down for the auction.”

“We’ll brainstorm a reason for you to be there. A problem with one of the vendors maybe.”

She stood and hiked her purse strap on her shoulder. “I want to leave.”

“We should talk about what you learned.”

Talk? She could barely stand. Her legs shook so badly, it’d take all her strength to walk to the car without falling over.

She glanced through the glass walls of the conference room at the marshals watching them. “Not here. Not now. Please, take me to the gallery.”

Dutch nodded and got her out of the building as quickly as possible. Without pushing conversation, he sped to the I-10. He gave her silence, he gave her space, but it couldn’t last forever.

“I don’t think you should go to the art gallery,” he said, exiting the freeway. “We should go back to the apartment, talk, sort through how you must be feeling.”

“I have work to do. I need to finish organizing the auction for my...” The breath caught in her throat. “For Emilio. It’s easier to do it from the office.”

“We need to talk. I know this isn’t easy for you.”

“How will it work in San Diego? The ins and outs. What should I expect?”

“The database is on a hard drive in Emilio’s safe. I need to find it.”

“The safe is in his office. I know where, but it requires his fingerprint to access it.”

He nodded. “We need to get the hard drive or erase it with a degausser.”

“What’s that?”

“It emits a high-intensity magnetic field that’ll erase the data. We need to do it before the auction during a time when the guards will be distracted, then we get out.”

“What happens to me? He’ll know I helped you, that I was a part of it.”

“You’ll have a choice. I can make it look like you didn’t know, leave you tied up, gagged.”

For a second, when he’d said he wouldn’t leave her behind, she’d believed him.

“Once the FBI is able to arrest him later,” Dutch continued, “then we could be together if you wanted.”

Her vision hazed. “Later when?”

“I don’t know how much longer the FBI needs to build their case. It could be weeks, months. This isn’t my first choice.”

“Then what is?” she asked, looking at him.

The creases in his forehead were deeper, his eyes wider. “You leave with me. But that means walking away from everything. The gallery. Brenda. This lifestyle. The FBI will eventually seize all of your uncle’s assets anyway.”

“You’re saying that no matter what, I’ll lose the gallery?” The art gallery she’d poured her heart and soul into, built up from nothing and created a reputation that others envied. And lose her best friend.

She had the unsettling realization that her whole life was slipping through her fingers and she was powerless to stop it.

“Yes, you’ll lose the gallery, and if they can tie the money your father left you to any RICO charges on your uncle, they’ll freeze that, too,” Dutch said. “We could go away together. I’ll use my vacation days. We can take a long trip to give you time to decide if you still want to be with me.”

She shook off the apprehension slithering through her. “And vice versa, I suppose.”