Page 123 of Cruel Lies

"I talked to a few people. Smart people. And they all said the same thing, independently, without talking to each other. You want to hear it?"

"That's why I'm on the phone, Navi."

"Long story short: It's too late to stop it."

I feel a sudden, graveyard chill race through me. "Explain yourself," I demand in a voice that sounds eerily like my father's.

Navi swallows. "You remember the query I told you about? The outside party who pulled a filing on one of the shells? Well, turns out they're still digging around. They pulled a second document Thursday. We still don't know who they are. But they're looking."

"So we clean the mess. That's what the tool was for."

"Duh," he says sarcastically. "And to clean the mess, we need the tool, which means we need the company, which is the whole point of the deal you just told me to kill."

"And I told you to find another way."

"Look, Ro, I'd love to. But even if therewasanother way—which, to be clear, I don't think there is—resorting to that now would throw up red flags. An aborted filing raises eyebrows if the wrong people catch wind of it. The last thing we need ismoreattention being paid to us."

I close my eyes and let my forehead fall against the glass window of my office.

Fuck.

I built this contraption, and I know how these things read from the outside.For those with the ears to listen, the story hidden inside a sudden, unexplained reversal is,Someone got scared. Look here. Start asking serious questions.

"So what are you telling me?" I say. "That I have to take it?"

"I'm telling you that stopping now is more dangerous than finishing. The safest thing is to let it run its course. We transfer the ownership from her to us, like planned, nice and boring, nice and routine. Nothing to see. And once it's done and it's quiet and the trail is cold?—"

I cut him off. "Then I'll give it back to her."

He hesitates. "That's… one option. I guess. Theoretically."

I'm nodding, trying my damndest to convince myself that this is still a moral route to take. I'm not stealing from her; I'm simply… borrowing, with the full intent of returning what's rightfully hers to her as soon as it's safe to do so. That's not a lie. That's not anything. Merely shuffling paperwork.

"How long will that take?"

"How long willwhattake?" he asks, perplexed.

"How long until I can give it back? Until it's cold. Until it's safe."

"I don't know. A few months at least. Maybe longer. Depends on who's looking and how long they keep looking. I'm not going to lie to you and give you a number I can't back up."

"Don't lie to me. Ever. I have enough of that going around."

"I'm not lying. I'm telling you I don't know. What more do you want from me, Ronan?"

I let out a long breath. It fogs the glass and then fades.

"Then that's what we do," I say. "Finish the deal, do what must be done. But the second the trail is cold—the very second, Navi, not one day later—I give it back to her."

"I'll set it up so it's ready to reverse the moment you say go."

"Do that."

"But, Ronan…"

I pause halfway to hanging up. "What?"

"She's not going to like this if she ever finds out. I know you think you're doing the right thing, and I don't really disagree. But I can't imagine her feeling the same way."