Total pages in book: 170
Estimated words: 160166 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 801(@200wpm)___ 641(@250wpm)___ 534(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 160166 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 801(@200wpm)___ 641(@250wpm)___ 534(@300wpm)
“There’s got to be something we’re missing,” I tell him. “Someone framed Braelynn.”
“Well if it wasn’t Scarlet…then…then someone else told the cops the export numbers. The, what was it, 886 thousand, which is damn well high enough for federal prosecution of embezzlement.”
Jase corrects him, “It was under 850…like 849 k. That’s how much was on her sheet.”
A chill goes down my spine. “That’s not right. Hold on, that’s not right.”
Jase’s brow furrows, “What’s not right? Those are the numbers reported.”
“It shouldn’t be, it’s not what was on her sheet.”
“Jase, where did you get those figures from?” I question him although I can barely hear my own voice, the ringing in my head is so loud.
“It doesn’t matter, does it? It was made up.”
“No, it does. On the video.”
“Go back. Go back to when we first met about Braelynn. About her sneaking around in the office.”
“What date was it?” he questions and I rattle it off. I know all these details by fucking heart now.
“You said those numbers. Those figures. They’re not what I put down though.” Every piece of footage, every person, every possibility races through my mind.
My brothers and I are the ones who discussed what I would put on those sheets for her. But the figures said out loud weren’t exactly the figures I put in the sheet. It was random. It wasn’t supposed to be a real test. I trusted her, and it was only to ease their concerns.
My entire body turns to ice. “No one but us,” I start and then realize someone could have been in the security room. Carter doesn’t object as I click through files upon files of security footage, until I find the folder with the date we met.
“It was Nate who said 886 thousand was reported,” Jase says and my head whirls as I swallow thickly. Hitting play on the hall video just outside the security room in the bar. My brothers and I would be in the back room of the bar. Discussing my new obsession with Braelynn and my plan to ensure she wasn’t a rat. And there he is…in front of all of our eyes.
“So, you said Nate told you?” Carter questions Jase.
Nate unlocks the security room and I speed up the tape. He doesn’t leave for two hours.
“Why the fuck would Nate tell you any other figure than what was reported? And how the hell would he get the same number we discussed?”
Nate would have heard our conversation. He would have heard my plans. He would have known what was going to happen and that she could so very easily be set up.
My vision turns red as my brothers discuss the reality. And all I can envision is wrapping my hands around that rat bastard’s neck.
He listened to the conversation. He set her up. But the figures he remembered weren’t the ones that were reported. He could have seen the spreadsheet before it was given to her, he could have watched me set it up from that office, and he could have written them down.
What he remembered was what we said though…he really did fucking tell on himself.
I stare at the computer as he exits the security room, a goddamn notepad in his hand. My blood races through my veins and adrenaline screams through me. Fucking Nate?
How could he do this? It makes no fucking sense at all.
Carter interrupts my thoughts as rage builds upon rage as the betrayal sets in. Nate? My right-hand man? Why? He fucking drove her home the other day. He was alone with her. My vision turns red.
“Nate was working with the female cop. Was he working with anyone else? If he wasn’t, there’s a good chance he will be shortly now that she’s gone.”
BRAELYNN
I’ve never done this before and I’m nervous as hell because it feels like a different kind of test entirely. I keep turning the ring around my finger and I wish I wouldn’t. It’s an obvious sign of my nerves. So instead, I tuck my hands inside of the long sleeves of my blue knit sweater so only the tips of my fingers show.
I’ve never been here either and it occurs to me that the room was designed for just this. The office is small and cozy and just off the kitchen, with a couch, a chair, and a desk. Aria’s art hangs on walls painted a warm eggshell color. I think this room would feel warm even on the coldest day of the year. Built-in shelves on one side hold smaller pieces by Aria and photographs. She and Carter smile out from one. The two of them plus the kids.
It’s a heartbreakingly normal home office. A stranger sitting in here would know that somebody liked art, and that Aria and Carter are happy together. They’d never know what it takes to win happiness for people like Carter and his brothers. All that darkness would be hidden from them.