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Devon leaned closer to Blake. “Think those two will ever figure it out?”
Blake followed her gaze. “Figure what out?”
She gave him a pointed look, and he blinked.
“Oh.” His grin widened. “That.”
She laughed as Scarlett approached with a glass of champagne.
“That was a beautiful ceremony,” the doctor told them. “Although I have to admit, I was expecting at least one embarrassing story about Blake.”
“Oh, I’ve got plenty, don’t worry,” Devon assured her.
“Careful, sweetheart,” Blake warned. “I know where you keep your browser history.”
Devon gasped. “You wouldn’t dare.”
Scarlett laughed. “I see married life is off to a promising start.”
Lincoln joined them, followed by Emmett and Janie.
“Speaking of promising,” the detective said, “I’ve got an update I thought you’d both appreciate.”
Devon straightened. “The Whitaker case?”
Lincoln nodded. “The financial investigation has uncovered the full extent of Meridian’s fraudulent billing operation. Millions in false claims, money moved through shell companies, and enough falsified records to keep federal prosecutors busy for years.”
Blake slipped an arm around Devon’s waist. “What about Crestview?”
“Shut down,” Lincoln announced. “The accounts tied to the operation have been frozen, and investigators are working to recover as much of the stolen money as possible. Several of Whitaker’s associates have already been indicted.”
“And the murders?” Devon asked.
The man’s expression grew solemn. “The evidence linking Whitaker’s organization to Scott Mitchell and Carol Jenkins’s deaths has been turned over to the prosecutors, and their families have finally been told what really happened.”
Devon swallowed. She’d never met Carol in person and didn’t know Scott Mitchell. But their deaths had haunted her these past few months. At least now, their families had some closure.
“What about Victor?” she asked, referring to Whitaker’s right hand man.
A muscle in Lincoln’s jaw twitched. “He’s facing federal kidnapping and conspiracy charges, along with multiple state charges for assault, unlawful imprisonment, and his involvement in the attacks against you. Prosecutors are also pursuing attempted murder charges on those involved where the evidence supports it.”
“Did Victor cooperate?”
“Once he realized Whitaker was no longer around to protect him, he sang like a canary. Said the original plan was to kill Devon, but then Whitaker changed his mind.” He looked at her. “He decided he needed to know what all you knew and who else you told before he had his men . . .” Lincoln stopped himself from going there. “Anyway, his statements helped investigators identify several other people involved in the actual operation, and we finally figured out how they kept finding you.”
“How?” She frowned
“Meridian’s system was compromised from the inside. One of Whitaker’s tech guys planted a tracking program that activated whenever you accessed certain files. It quietly sent information about your connection back to them, including your location.”
Blake’s jaw tightened. “Which explains how they found her after we left St. Louis.”
“Exactly.” Lincoln confirmed. “Every time Devon accessed the program’s files, she was practically sending them an invitation. They didn’t need to follow her. They just had to wait for her to log in.”
Devon shook her head. “All that time, I thought I was being careful.”
Blake squeezed her hand. “You were, sweetheart. You just didn’t know the system itself was working against you.” A sliver of guilt flashed across his handsome face when he added a muttered, “None of us did.”
“Don’t beat yourselves up,” Lincoln ordered. “I get that you’re both crazy good with computers and all that, but so were Whitaker’s people. Hell, it took the feds’ best tech analysts three months to figure it out.”
