Total pages in book: 143
Estimated words: 136743 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 684(@200wpm)___ 547(@250wpm)___ 456(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 136743 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 684(@200wpm)___ 547(@250wpm)___ 456(@300wpm)
“Have a seat,” I tell her, and perch on the edge of my desk.
“It was only after I got here,” she says, sitting and glancing down to the hands clenched in her lap, “that I remembered you saying it was a risk for you to come see me. I guess it’s a risk for me to come see you too, huh? I’m sorry. I should have…”
She grimaces, her throat bobbing with a deep swallow. “It’s been a rough couple of days. I wasn’t thinking clearly. I hope me coming here doesn’t—”
“It’s fine. Did you think of anything?”
“I may have found something, yeah.” She opens her palm to reveal a small silver jump drive. It’s only then I notice the white bandage on her other hand.
I reach for the bandaged hand and turn it over. “How’d this happen?”
She pulls away and lets the injured hand fall in her lap.
“It’s nothing. Did you not notice what’s in my other hand?” Amusement caresses her voice, and a small smile touches her full lips.
I reach for the jump drive, but she closes her hand and pulls it behind her back. “I think it has information you need, but there are things I need first.”
I lift my brows and cross my arms over my chest.
“If that’s evidence for the case, I can get the FBI to retrieve it.”
“And I can conveniently forget we even had this conversation and lie very convincingly to anyone who asks me about it, but then neither of us would get what we want, would we?”
I can’t help but smile. There’s a shark under all those curls and cashmere.
“I like getting what I want,” I tell her, hoping that didn’t sound as suggestive as I think it did.
“So do I,” she replies without missing a beat. “And what I want is to keep my house, my accounts unfrozen, my cards reactivated, and for this company to leave me and my girls alone.”
“I want that too, believe it or not. I also want the six million dollars your husband stole. Do you think what’s on that drive could help us both?”
She draws a shaky breath, pulls her hand out, and offers me the drive.
I reach for it, but she doesn’t surrender it right away, holding on with the tips of her fingers.
“I need your assurance that I’ll get the things I asked for. I need to keep the money that’s in our accounts. I have a few months of savings to help us survive while I get on my feet. This isn’t a gift, Judah. It’s a negotiation.”
“I can’t make promises without knowing what’s on it. Hell, I can’t make promises at all, but at least let me see what you’ve got.”
“I’m not a math genius like you, but even I can tell what’s there could be crucial to the case.”
I stare at the tiny drive in my hand for a second before rounding my desk and sitting down to slide it into the laptop. There are so many folders, all with numbers for file names. When I open the first file, it contains a series of figures I immediately recognize as account numbers and international transaction codes.
“Shit,” I breathe, my pulse quickening as I click on file after file detailing transactions and laying out a clear trail to shell accounts, some of which I recognize from what I’ve been able to uncover on my own. “Soledad, do you have any idea what this is?”
She nods jerkily, drawing her bottom lip between her teeth and biting down. “I don’t know what it all means, but I can tell it’s damning.”
“It blows the case wide open. It’s basically a road map to places the money has been sent. Passwords, account numbers. Everything.”
“Oh.” She rapid-blinks, as if processing what I’m telling her. “Okay. So that’s good, right?”
“For us, yeah.” I need this information, but she’s been taken advantage of enough. She should understand the implications of turning this over to me. “This strengthens the case against your husband significantly. I can’t guarantee he won’t get more time if we have this information than he would have if we didn’t.”
“I understand that, but we all make choices. Edward chose this scheme over our family.” Her eyes are hard and diamond bright. “He’ll serve the time for what he did, but my girls won’t suffer. He’s not taking us down with him. He doesn’t get to ruin their lives.”
“So you’ll turn it over to the FBI?”
“I’m turning it over to you.”
I stare at her and then at the on-screen evidence the Callahans need to condemn Edward and recover as much of their money as possible.
“Why?” I ask simply. “Why me?”
“I don’t trust the FBI.” Her laugh is harsh and hoarse. “I certainly can’t trust the Callahans, but I can’t do this by myself, so I have to trust someone. I choose you.”