36

"Raquel Camille, Senator Marco's wife."

"I know who she is, but what does she have to do with this?"

"She hates her husband for starters. Suspected he was cheating. And became friends with a new mom at school, Helen Caldwell. Helen and I used to hook up—years ago—when she worked at the bank and before she married into money. Anyways, I told her I used to dabble in hacking. Never told her the whole story, though. But when Raquel told Helen that she wanted to divorce Marco, Helen came up with a better idea. To catch him in the act and blackmail him. The point was to get them both a hefty pay day, and then have enough proof in the divorce to allow her to get full custody. And she asked for my help. So I hacked into his laptop while they were at a hotel and caught it."

I crossed my arms. "That's it?"

Quinton snorted. "The video caught what we were looking for…and then some. The video recorded Jonathan Calamari talking about voter fraud. Senator Marco practically admitted to stealing the votes that won him the election. And then he said that he would help Jonathan do the same."

"Fuck."

"Exactly my thought. And as soon as I saw the video, I knew what I had to do. Raquel and Helen got their money, and they deleted the video. Didn't even make a fucking copy. So I sent Ophelia to get me a separate copy. And she did. Calamari is the scum of the earth. His politics is what will destroy this city. I wanted to show this world who he really is. And if that took down Camille at the same time, than that's probably for the best too."

My blood froze. "So Ophelia has a copy?"

"As far as I know...yeah."

"Did Raquel and Helen tell Jonathan that they deleted the video?"

"No idea," Quinton shrugged. "After Jonathan's people started snooping around, I went on the run. Didn't reach out to anyone...except Ophelia."

I ran my hand over my chin. "Wait. You talked to Ophelia? When?"

He pursed his lips. "I don't exactly know what day it was. But not long before your PI picked me up."

"And what did you say to her?"

For the first time since I'd met him, Quinton hesitated.

"You want your two mil or what?"

He sighed. "I told her I was in hiding. To keep the video. That I'd pay her fifty grand once I was out in the clear. And...I told her that she was safe with you. That no one would suspect her if she was dating you."

Everything inside me hardened over. "Interesting." I handed him over the manilla envelope.

"You did this all for her?" When I didn't respond, he shook his head. "Man, you must really love her."

For a hard moment, I didn't move, his words sending a chill down my body. "Have a good life, Quinton. I hope I never see you again."

"Likewise, buddy."

OPHELIA

"Wine?" Raquel lifted a bottle of white in the air. "Or should we do champagne?"

My hands twisted together as I glanced around Helen's marble kitchen, the vaulted space larger than the apartment I'd lived in with Cecilia. The back wall was an entire pane of glass and looked out on the manicured yard, where Raquel's twins, Helen's daughter, and Cecilia were running around on a playground that could have mirrored the ones at the park.

"Ophelia, your choice." Helen smiled at me. "Ophelia?" Her voice was soft. Just like her modest clothes, everything about her was so unassuming. It didn't fit with the image of her from the video in my head.

"White wine is fine," I smiled.

"Perfect," Helen said, pouring the entire bottle into three separate glasses. As she turned on the TV, she sighed. "Wine is my medicine, Lord help us."

Raquel chuckled and leaned across the island counter. "Ophelia, it's so nice finally see you outside of school." I was relieved I was lifting the wine glass to my lips so that Raquel couldn't see my frown. Unsuspecting, she continued. "I hope you don't mind, but I invited Lorenzo to join us today."

The wine caught in my throat upon my sip. "Y-you what?"

Raquel shrugged. "Well, you know, I just figured that he'd like to know where you are."

I set my wine glass down. "Sorry, what? You think my boyfriend needs checking up on me?"

"No, more so, I just didn't want him to worry."

My hands pressed into the cool marble. "Is it that you didn't want him to worry, Raquel, or is it that you want every opportunity you can to get as close to the White House as possible?"

Raquel's entire demeanor changed. Her voice lowered. "I'm offended by that accusation, Ophelia."

"Holy shit." Both Raquel and I turned at the sound of Helene's voice.

She was standing in front of the television, sipping her wine glass faster. The news was playing the story about Quinton's death, but the headline had been updated.

Local bank teller killed in shoot out after robbery at mayor Calamari’s mansion.

"What is it?" Raquel asked.

"Quinton," Helen said. "He's dead."

Raquel blinked quickly, looked between Helen and I, and cleared her throat. "Who's Quinton?"

Helen's expression froze. Her eyes darted to me and then back to her wine. "I-uh-used to work with him."

They were both in on this. I knew it in that moment. Whatever part Helen had taken in blackmailing Calamari, Raquel had either known about it or been involved.

I gravitated toward the television, leaving my wine glass behind. The screen switched to a video of Mayor Calamari’s hallway as a man emerged from a closed door and darted across the hall to his office.

In the background, the reporter continued. "This video was taken shortly before Mr. Zinger was discovered attempting to rob Mayor Calamari."

"How sad," Raquel whispered.

Helen finished her glass of wine. "Terrible." Her eyebrows lifted. "More wine?"

I hesitated. None of this made sense. There had been no shoot out at Jonathan's, I was sure of it. Not when Quinton had been on the run and hiding from Calamari’s people. If Quinton was dead, then it was because they'd finally tracked him down.

So what the hell was this video about?

"Actually, can I use your bathroom?"

"Of course," Helen said. "Down the hall to your left."

I glanced out the back window at the playground where Cecilia was still running around.

"Don't worry," Raquel said. "We'll keep an eye on them."

That was exactly what I was worried about. I'd need to make this quick.

I found a laptop in an office in the back room. It was clear by the photos that her husband was a doctor who worked in other countries, which explained why I'd never seen him around before. That meant one thing.

This computer was only been used by Helen—and she didn't even have a password. It took less than a minute to find the email I was looking for.

Dear Mayor Calamari and Senator Marco,

I was hired by my business partner to secretly film you when we partied at the Hilton last week. Surprise, surprise, I'm not just some whore you picked up. Neither my partner, nor I, expected to see how idiotic you both are. Because of the information you revealed in the video, my partner and I will release this video to the public if you don't deposit the amount of four hundred thousand dollars into an account I will be sending to you in the next few weeks. If you both value your careers, then you will continue to obey to my wishes.

Speak soon.

Except this wasn'tthe only email in the chain. There were two other emails bcc-ed in and a group chat between them discussing what they'd heard in the video. Raquel had literally responded from her personal email with her own name, and from reading their conversation, it became clear that she'd originally wanted to gather proof that Senator Marco was cheating on her.