Chapter Twenty-Six

“Breaking news today from Applechester, Michigan. Mega-popular weight loss company Thinner has been shut down after federal agencies discovered one of the ingredients in their popular shakes was poisonous in high doses. So far, the death toll is at three and climbing. If you are a Thinner member and have not received medical instructions, please contact SAFE immediately at—”

I slammed my hand against the radio, turning off the announcement. I didn’t need to relive what I already knew. I leaned my forehead against the steering wheel, wringing my hands around it as if were a wet towel.

I needed to get out of this truck, walk to the front door, scan my keycard, walk to my dad’s office. I needed to tell him everything. Needed to face his disappointment while we figured out how to keep Carma from getting a life sentence.

Then I needed to do the far scarier thing: See Carma. Beg for forgiveness.

I raised my head and looked out over the parking lot and past the SHAP building, to the large tent being erected for emergency medical care. As early as tomorrow, Thinner members in the area would show up en masse to be examined and hopefully receive a blood transfusion that would eliminate the venom from their bodies.

A knock on my window made me scream. I never screamed. I jerked upright to find Jake. With a resigned sigh, I turned off my engine. He stepped back when I opened my door only the necessary amount to slide out.

I stood there in silence, fidgeting with my keys. He put his free hand in his pocket and turned to face the tent, leaning back against my truck. “Lucinda is secure. The SHAP physicians and the research team are with Carma now.”

I nodded, leaning next to him. “Is—” I cleared my throat. “Is she okay?”

He glanced at me. “She’s strong. But you already knew that. She wants to be the one to make the calls to the members. She asked to be in the tent as they started treatment.”

“Of course.” I shook my head. “She’ll do all the transfusions herself if you let her.”

He bumped his shoulder with mine. “I don’t know her well yet, but I can see why you love her.”

My breath caught and I had to clear the emotion out of my throat a second time. “Loving her isn’t going to save her from this hell.”

“No. It won’t.” The side of his head leaned against the top of mine. “But babe, loving her is going to help her recover. She lost her mom and her company today. We’re going to do what we can to make sure she doesn’t lose her freedom, too.”

I stepped back and turned to face him, wide-eyed. “You believe she had nothing to do with it?”

His gaze held mine. “I believe you, and you believe her. I trust you with my life. No reason to start doubting you now.”

“Even though I kept my feelings from you?” My voice was barely above a whisper.

“What is it Sebastian always says? You have the emotional maturity of wet toilet paper?”

I gave him the finger.

His eyes crinkled, but his smile didn’t reach his mouth. “Yeah. Even though you didn’t tell me.” He nodded toward the looming brick building. “You ready to face your dad?”

“Never.” I bit down hard on my lip. “Jake…it’ll be the end of everything.”

He put his forehead on my shoulder. “I know.” After a deep sigh, he continued. “But ends are okay. They allow for new beginnings.”

“You sound like Magnolia.”

“Good.”

We stayed like that for a long moment, our friendship the only thing keeping me upright. “I’m ready,” I whispered.

He lifted his head and nodded, then fell into step beside me. He didn’t need to tell me he was going to stand by me, and I didn’t need to ask.

It was fifty-seven steps from the front door to the elevator. Four floors to the executive level. Eighty-two steps to my dad’s office door. Three knocks. Two heart beats.

I frowned at the man who sat behind my dad’s desk; the opposite of the man I expected. His reading glasses were tossed haphazardly on his desktop, his tie loosened at the neck, his hair in disarray as if his hands had sifted through it unconsciously.

He looked up as we walked in but didn’t stand. Didn’t hold out his hand to Jake. Didn’t acknowledge me with a curt nod. Instead, his eyes studied me, watched me, searched my face for answers.

As Sienna closed his office door behind us, Dad gestured to the two chairs in front of his desk. We sat. I put my hands between my knees to hide the shaking.

No one said anything. The silence tore at my stomach. I tried to suck in a deep breath through my nose, and on the third try I succeeded.

Dad put his elbows on his desk, then clasped his hands together, leaning his chin against them. “Carma will have to face a judge, but she has agreed to fully cooperate with the investigation. With you vouching for her, I doubt she’ll face any jail time.”

“Good,” I breathed. “Then it was worth it.”

He nodded once. “However, if Lucinda goes to trial, you’re likely going to have to testify and defend your relationship with Carma.”

The mask I wore when my dad was around slipped and I covered my face with my hands, then leaned forward over my legs trying to remember how to breathe in and out. I hated testifying for regular cases, but this was going to be a special kind of torture. Being forced to explain how I had an affair with a mark in what will likely be one of the highest profile cases of the decade was going to be hell.

Jake leaned back in his chair and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Jim, they’ll tear her apart. Both of them apart.”

“I know,” Dad confirmed. I heard him stand and walk. I raised my head when he touched my shoulder, then leaned against his desk just to my left. He’d never sat on his desk before, at least not in my presence.

He looked over at Jake. “Get an update on Carma.”

Jake turned to me, silently making it clear he was here to support me first. I tilted my head, letting him know he should go check. “I’ll be back.”

I blinked hard, but my dad was still here, across from me, trying to comfort me. His hand squeezed my shoulder once and then he let it fall. He crossed his legs at the ankles and gripped the edge of the desk. “We need Lucinda’s confession.”

I searched his face. “You need me to get it?”

He nodded. “She won’t speak.”

“I’ll do it.”

He nodded again. “I know.”

I stared at the stapler behind him, willing myself to wake up, back in Carma’s arms. Except this wasn’t a nightmare. “Dad, I’m sorry,” I whispered.

“She the one?”

I looked up at him. “Yeah. She is.”

“You gonna be okay?”

I nodded, then shook my head. “What do I do now?” I whispered.

He crossed his arms and sighed, leaning back. “I don’t know, kid. We’ll figure it out.”

“We?”

He pushed away from his desk and crossed back over to his chair. “Always got your back.” He picked up his glasses and perched them on his nose, then looked over the top. “Even when you don’t think I do.”

I swallowed hard, wishing he’d told me this months ago. Wishing I had come to him in the first place. Wishing I had just stayed in bed. “What now?”

He turned to his computer. “I’m going to fill out your termination report.” He met my eyes. “Confession.”

We both knew if my employment was over with SHAP, I didn’t have to follow the code of ethics. I wouldn’t be on anymore SHAP cases. It was time to get a confession any way I could.

“If you’ll excuse me, I’m just going to…stretch my legs.”

He nodded. “Tell Sienna the cameras are out in cellblock C.” His fingers moved swiftly over his keyboard.

I tilted my head. “What a shame. Should get that looked at.”

He grunted.

I paused at the door, then turned back to face him. “Thank you, Dad.”

He looked up at me and his eye crinkled. “Be careful.” It wasn’t an “I love you,” but it was close enough.

I walked out of his office, shutting the door behind me. I rested my hand on the handle, likely for the last time. This would never be my office and I would never be allowed in here again. Or at least, not for a very long time. There were too many secrets in these walls.

Sienna stood and walked over. “Well, Miss Mina, I had hoped I’d get to be your assistant someday.” Werewolves lived for a very long time.

I bit the insides of my cheeks until I regained my composure. “The feeling was mutual.”

She surprised me by pulling me into a hug. Sienna didn’t hug.

“Uh, is this some weird distraction so I drop my guard and you can bite me?”

She laughed softly. “You were always the bravest. I’m glad to see that hasn’t changed.” She released me and stepped back.

“I don’t think having an affair with my mark is ‘brave.’”

She just shook her head. “Well, I didn’t say you were intuitive.” She walked back to her desk chair and sat. “It’d be a shame if, on your walk, you went by C23. A real big shame.”

“I definitely better avoid C23.” With one final look around the neutrally gray office, I sucked in a shaky breath and nodded. “Keep an eye on him, please.”

Her eyes held mine. “Always.”