Chapter 26 What Must Be Done
Sloane
I stared at the screen, my hand hovering in the air. I couldn't move. My lungs felt tight, like someone had wrapped a heavy chain around my chest.
"Sloane," Cade said. His voice had a sharp, focused edge that cut right through the buzzing of the phone. "You know have to pick it up."
"I know," I whispered, my eyes fixed on the screen. "I'm just wondering...What if he saw me? Or if this is him calling to tell me he knows?"
Cade stepped into my space, but he didn't crowd me. He reached out, his hand hovering near my shoulder like he wanted to steady me but didn't quite know if he should. He looked different. His face was set in a way that reminded me of stone, but his eyes were wide with a nervous energy.
"If you don't answer, he’ll start asking why. You have to show him exactly what he expects to see, the happy, engaged Hartford niece."
The phone was on its final rings. I looked at Cade, saw the cold resolve in his face, and realized he wasn't going to let me hide. I took a shaky breath, swiped the screen, and pressed the phone to my ear.
"Hello?" I said. I tried to make it sound light, but it came out a bit breathless.
"Good morning, sweetheart," Richard’s voice boomed through the line. He sounded perfect. He sounded like the loving, powerful uncle the public saw on the news every night. There wasn't a hint of the cold man I’d heard in that office. "I hope I didn't wake you too early. I imagine it was a long night of celebrating."
"No, Uncle Richard," I said, leaning against the counter for support. My knees felt like they were made of water. "Just getting ready for work. It was a lovely dinner. Thank you again."
"Of course, of course," he said. He paused, and my heart stopped. I could hear him shifting a paper on his desk. "Tell me, Sloane... did you notice anything after the dinner yesterday?"
My heart didn't just skip a beat, it felt like it stopped entirely. My eyes flew to Cade. He was watching me like a hawk, his head tilted slightly to catch any sound from the phone. My mind raced.
Did he see me? Did the man in the suit tell him someone was at the door? Did someone else spot me?
"Anything like what?" I asked, my voice cracking slightly. I forced a small, fake laugh. "What do you mean, Uncle?"
"Your silver case," Richard said, his tone casual, almost teasing. "The one you carry everywhere. One of the cleaners noticed it sitting on the side table in the hall when I was closing up the suite last night. You must have been in quite a rush to get home to your new fiancé."
The relief hit me so hard I almost slumped to the floor. The case. I had forgotten all about it. I had been so busy eavesdropping and then running for my life that I’d left the very thing I went back for.
"Oh!" I said, trying to sound annoyed with myself.
I put a hand to my forehead, playing the part.
"Yes! I’ve been looking for that everywhere this morning. I felt like I was losing my mind. I actually told Cade I thought I’d left it in the car, and I was about to call the driver to check under the seats."
Richard chuckled. It was a warm, rich sound that made my skin crawl.
"Well, no need to harass the staff, sweetheart. It's right here in my desk drawer. It’s perfectly safe. You can stop by and pick it up anytime after work today. Or I can have a courier drop it off?"
"No, no," I said quickly.
The last thing I wanted was one of my uncle Richard’s people coming to the house.
"I’ll stop after work this afternoon. Thank you for holding on to it.."
"Anytime, Sloane. Have a productive day. Give my best to Cade."
"I will. Bye."
I ended the call and practically threw the phone onto the counter, like it was made of hot iron. I was shaking so hard I had to grip the edge of the marble island to keep from falling.
"He has the case," I told Cade, my voice trembling. "I left it there. He wants me to come to the office to get it."
"Okay. That’s leverage," Cade said.
I looked at him, stunned, and uncomfortably aware of how steady he was while everything in me was unraveling.
"Leverage? Cade, what do you mean? I can't even be around my uncle right now. Every time he speaks, I hear him talking about…transfers, which now I know means something else. I look at his hands and I wonder how many people he might have gotten hurt. I can’t go to his office and pretend everything is normal."
"You have to," Cade said. He stepped closer, his voice dropping an octave. "If you avoid him now, he’ll know something has changed. You’ll go to his office. You’ll smile. You'll take the case. And you’ll thank him like he just did you a favor."
I paused and looked at Cade for a brief moment. He hadn’t asked if I could do this. He’d already decided I would.
"How are you doing this?" I asked, my voice rising in frustration. "How are you standing there so calm? We just found out my family is likely running a human trafficking ring. We found out they used our engagement as a mask for something…monstrous."
Cade’s expression didn't soften. If anything, it turned to stone.
"Because now, I'm not working with assumptions anymore, Sloane," he said. His voice was flat, lacking of any warmth. "It’s always been maybe and possibly since we started looking into this, but now I know it’s real”. He looked away. “And that it didn’t end when Lily died."
He took a step closer, and for the first time in a while, I saw a flicker of something dark and cold behind his eyes. It made him someone much more dangerous.
"If what you heard is true," Cade continued, "then this business is exactly what got my sister killed. She found out and they silenced her for it."
I looked at him, my breath hitching. "Cade..."
"So to answer your question, it’s not calm, Sloane. It’s resolve," he said. "I am not backing out now, and neither should you.”
The intensity in his voice was terrifying. I had spent years being angry at Cade for leaving me, for choosing his father over us.
But as I looked at him, a new kind of fear settled in my stomach. I wasn't just worried about what this discovery meant for my family's legacy anymore. I was worried about what it meant for Cade. He’s been so focused, so still all these weeks.
He was sure now that my uncle had something to do with the same business that killed his sister. And as I watched him pick up his keys, his face set in a hard, grim mask
He grabbed his briefcase and checked his watch. The conversation was over. The mission was moving forward, whether I was ready or not. He left, the front door clicking shut behind him.
As I stood in the silent kitchen, staring at the empty space where he had been, I realized something else had shifted too,
I wasn’t just worried about Richard anymore; I was worried about what this discovery would do to Cade.
He was so focused on justice for Lily that he looked ready to pull at every thread of my family’s life until the whole thing unraveled.
Cade wasn’t investigating my family anymore.
He was preparing to dismantle them.