Page 69 of Hidden With You

A few minutes later, another man joined him, and Ponytail passed an envelope to the second man. From the angle, it was impossible to see the second man’s face, and Jasper was just about to ask if there was video with an angle across the street, when the man turned.

It was Carter Malloy.

“I don’t get it,” Owen said. “I don’t get what you’re trying to say.” He glared at Ollie, as if Ollie was messing up everything. Jasper guessed that from Owen’s perspective, he probably was.

“It’s simple,” Ollie said. “Someone stole a particular file with a graphic on it from Hardline Entertainment. That graphic somehow ended up on a death threat sent to Zelda. We know that Peter Danvoy—Mr. Ponytail in the video—accessed that folder during a time when he was not officially logged into the computer and on a station that didn’t normally belong to him. We also know that on that same day, he entered into a transaction with Carter Malloy, someone we suspect might harbor ill will toward Zelda. Considering the two met, the probability is high that Carter acquired the graphics file and sent the threat to Zelda.”

He cleared his throat. “That’s it,” he added, and everyone around the table nodded, with the exception of Owen, who still looked shell-shocked.

“There’s more,” Zelda said. “I just remembered it, but it supports the conclusion that Carter’s involved. The other day, my mother mentioned that she was annoyed I hadn’t offered to get her tickets for the gala. I didn’t think anything about it at the time. My mother is constantly annoyed with me, and I mostly just tune her out. But I just realized something,” she continued.

“How did she know about the gala?” Jasper said.

“Exactly.” Zelda looked around the table. “The gala that’s being thrown in honor of Intercontinental is meant to be a surprise. No one who has tickets to the real premier knows that they’re going to get to see the trailer. It’s an odd publicity stunt in that there is no publicity, but that’s the way Holt’s company wants to handle it.”

“But somehow your mother knew,” Jasper said. “Probably because she heard it from your stepfather. And I’m guessing he knows because he’s the one who’s up to something.”

Everyone at the table except Owen nodded, either absorbing the information or agreeing. And they all turned to look at the odd man out.

“Anything to say?” Jasper asked.

Slowly, Owen shook his head. “I don’t want to believe it. This man has been good to me my entire life. He noticed me when I was a trainee. He got me into the freaking CIA. But everything I’ve seen today….”

“We know,” Zelda said gently.

“I wish I could deny all of it,” Owen said. “But I’m trying to be objective, and what you’ve shown me suggests that Carter Malloy really is dirty.” He drew in a breath, looking positively miserable. “I’m sorry I doubted you.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Zelda said. “We all have loyalty to the people we love.”

Owen managed a small smile. “I appreciate that,” he said. “And I think I need to tell you something else too,” he said, turning to Jasper. “Honestly, I should have said something ages ago. But now, with all this stuff about Carter, well, I guess I really do need to tell you now.”

“What is it?” Jasper asked.

“I knew Sandra,” Owen said. “I met her about eleven years ago. I was living in London at the time, and we were both taking a class about modern art at the Tate. We hit it off, became friendly. I thought she was incredible.”

Jasper felt himself go cold, and he wished that Zelda were sitting beside him instead of across the table. He felt the comfort of her gaze, but he wanted her hand in his. He wasn’t sure where this conversation was going, but he had a feeling that he wasn’t going to like when it got there. “Go on.” he said after Owen paused.

“I, um, well, to be honest, I fell in love with her. I imagine that you can understand why.”

He could barely get the words out, but he had to know. “And Sandra? How did she feel about you?”

“I, I thought she felt the same. But when I talked to her, she made it clear that she didn’t. She loved you. She loved your family. And she told me that as much as she enjoyed being friends with me, it made her uncomfortable to know that I felt that way. She thought it was best if we never saw each other again.”

“When was that?”

“About two months before she died. I’m so sorry. I went to the funeral. I stood back from the group, but I wanted to pay my respects. She was a wonderful woman, and she loved you very much.”

“Thank you for telling me,” Jasper said, though he wasn’t sure that he was thankful at all. He could have gone the rest of his life without knowing that this man had intimate feelings toward his wife. And he certainly hadn’t needed any proof that Sandra had been faithful. That much he’d always known in his heart.

Owen cleared his throat. “I, um, didn’t decide to tell you this because we’re having a warm and fuzzy moment. I’m telling you because Carter Malloy knows.”

“What are you talking about?” Zelda asked.

“He mentioned once that he had a photo of me standing by Sandra’s car talking to her. He said it was obvious how I felt from the expression on my face. And he said that he expected me to continue being his good protegé as I moved up through the ranks at the CIA.”

He cleared his throat. “It’s one of the reasons I decided to leave the Company after he did. Once he was on the outside, I was afraid that he’d expect me to share secrets. Things I wasn’t supposed to take outside the office. I wasn’t comfortable doing that, and so I quit. Again, it’s all speculation, but now I suppose there’s no doubt that he had that intention. And that says a lot about the character of a man.”

“It does,” Jasper said. “Thank you for letting us know.”