AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Gus reached out and grabbed her, pulling her into an embrace, though she was furious enough to resist him. “You’re right, I’m sorry.”
“You’re an idiot!”
He smiled ruefully. “I’m an attorney… Well, I was an attorney. I don’t like confessions in the ordinary course of events. When it’s my sister confessing to something she didn’t do…”
Theo stopped fighting him. “At the time, I couldn’t see any other way.”
He looked at her seriously. “They could still charge you with obstructing justice.”
Theo continued to glare at him. “I have a good lawyer.”
Theo and Gus waited until Mac was discharged from the hospital before they all returned to Lawrence. The Etheridges were unhappy that their theories of the crime were dismissed so out of hand, but consoled themselves with the idea that at least Mac had finally pulled a trigger and taken out not one, but two enemies. Mac gave up trying to convince them that he hadn’t fired a shot.
Of course, the saga was an international news sensation. Writer after writer officially declared that they had no association with Day Delos and Associates, as the firm’s clients were investigated. Some of the world’s most successful authors were revealed to be fugitives, arrested, and destocked from shelves for past crimes and indiscretions. Some scandals had become insignificant with the passing of time, and those writers told stories of a life under the control of Day Delos and Associates Management. But others disappeared like the ghosts they’d become, leaving only their words to rattle like chains in the night.
Neither Veronica Cole, nor indeed any of Day Delos and Associates’s agents, were apprehended. They vanished, leaving various authorities to try to unravel the convolutions of its operations and networks, the dark extent of its manipulations.
Theo leaned her head back against Mac’s chest as they watched Gus screw in the sign above the old offices they’d just painted and furnished on New Hampshire Street: STEVEN AND BENTON, ATTORNEYS AT LAW. Jacqui emerged with champagne and glasses to toast Lawrence’s newest law firm.
She looked up. “I think it’s crooked, Gus.”
Gus climbed down and assessed the sign for himself. “You can hardly tell.”
“A law firm shouldn’t have a crooked sign.”
Gus smiled. “I don’t know… Could be very good for business.”
“Gus…”
“Mate, have I explained the fine Australian tradition of ‘good enough’?”
Jacqui rolled her eyes, handed him the champagne, and took the electric drill from his hand. “I’ll do it myself…mate.”
He kissed her. “Is this how it’s going to be—you rewriting my advice?”
“Only when it’s crooked.”
Mac felt Theo shiver suddenly in his arms. “Are you okay?” he whispered, pulling her closer.
She turned and looked up at him. Sometimes it was still hard to believe that she had found her way out, that the fragile, tangled thread that had anchored her to Gus and Mac had held, despite everything. That she was allowed to be this happy…because she was happy. “Someone must have walked over my grave.”
He pushed a stray lock of hair away from her face. “You look a little spooked.”
“I’m not…well, maybe a little.” She tried to explain because she wanted him to understand. “Everything is so perfect right now, I’m terrified of losing it.”
“You won’t lose it, Theo. It might not always be perfect—in fact it’s only a matter of time before my brothers do something stupid—but I won’t lose you again.”
“I know,” Theo said quietly. “But a little part of me wonders if Veronica Cole is hanging out her shingle again, if Day Delos and Associates Management has a new name.”
Mac smiled faintly.
Theo pulled away from him, embarrassed. “I know, I’m being idiotic. It’s over. There’s no point thinking about all this.”
“I wouldn’t say that.” Mac pulled her back. “It’s a brilliant premise for a book.”
CHAPTER 42
There’s a facility in Kansas, undocumented except for the occasional mention in these forums. It’s known only as the Labyrinth. I’ve got a job there now and I’ve seen the results of the Frankenstein Project with my own eyes. It’s not over.
WKWWK
Flagman
