Crystal glanced at me.
I nodded once.
“She gave me an emergency number after the break-in,” Crystal said. “I memorized it.”
Dex nodded. “Good. Keep it in your head until we have the records.”
“You don’t want it now?” Crystal asked.
“Not on my phone. Not while North Fork keeps calling me.”
I folded my arms tighter. “That sounded almost paranoid.”
“That sounded like experience.”
“Less charming.”
“More useful.”
Crystal rubbed her thumb over the edge of the water bottle. “If something happens before we get there, I can call her.”
“The goal is making sure something doesn’t happen before we get there,” Dex said.
I moved to the far side of the table and braced both hands on the chair back across from Crystal. “The locker’s outside town. Crystal has the key. There’s a copied flash drive, printed invoices, account statements, and the notes she made before she ran.”
Dex nodded once. “Any originals?”
“No,” Crystal said. “I couldn’t take originals without making it obvious.”
“They knew anyway,” I said.
“They knew I copied something,” Crystal said. “They don’t know exactly what I have.”
Dex checked the window again. “Then we act like Frank knows enough to watch the obvious places.”
Crystal’s hand tightened around the water bottle.
“Why would he?” I asked.
“Because someone searched Crystal’s apartment for the records. Because the charge landed on her before she could report the pattern. Because the file missed an identical twin and still put me close enough to make your sister run.” His jaw tightened. “I don’t like the timing.”
Crystal set the water down too hard. “Frank.”
“Maybe,” Dex said. “Maybe someone doing what Frank tells him. I’m not naming what I can’t prove.”
I didn’t like the way that landed.
Dex kept his attention on me. “North Fork isn’t dirty.”
“I didn’t say it was.”
“You were thinking it.”
“I think a lot of things.”
“And most of them come with sharp edges.”
“Only the accurate ones.”
