Page 101 of Statler

She blinked, then slowly examined Statler’s face. “He did?”

“Yes. But shortly thereafter he disappeared off the Fed’s radar. They weren’t sure if he’d gone more deeply undercover, or if something had happened to him, but Holden lost touch. That put the entire case on hold for a year, until someone new got their hands on the file and reached out to us to see if we could make sense of what had happened.”

“So Holden was a…whistle blower?” Eliza swallowed, visibly. “He really was trying to keep me out of things so I’d be…safe.”

“That’s right.”

She leaned down and cradled her face in her hands. “And here I’ve been thinking the worst of him, when everything he was doing, he did for me.”

“You couldn’t have known that,” Statler comforted. “He should have understood that you were strong enough to hear the truth, but he kept it from you. By doing that, he gave you no choice but to doubt him.”

“I should have fought him harder on it,” Eliza lamented.

“I’m not sure that would have done any good,” Statler soothed. “He was doing what he thought best.”

“Would you have hidden it from me?” she asked, raising her head to reveal eyes thick with unshed tears.

“No. I wouldn’t. I’m not willing to hide anything from you. So…,” he dared, “you’re going to have to brace yourself. I have something else you need to hear.”

“Go ahead.” She infused her tone with conviction.

Statler didn’t hesitate. “We know all I’ve told you because we’ve bugged your father’s office. But this morning…William gave Jeremy permission to get rid of you,” he gruffed. “You’re not safe going back to your house.”

She put a hand to her mouth in shock. “Oh, my God. I…knew he hated me, but…to have his own daughter killed?”

He picked up and stroked her hand gently. “I know. It’s a lot to take in.”

Statler knew she’d wanted total honesty, but he wasn’t going to tell her that Jeremy also had the green light to abuse her. There was no point, since she’d never have to deal with the asshole again.

Statler would make sure that Jeremy got what was coming to him.

After he made sure Eliza was safe.

“Listen. If you let me, I’ll drive you back to Bangor and leave you with my sister where you’ll be protected,” he finished.

Eliza was already shaking her head.

“First,” she argued, “I need to hear exactly what William Flazer has been doing to warrant him committing murder. Murders. Holden’s, five others, and possibly mine.” Her mouth was tight, and Statler knew Eliza would never be calling that asshole her father, ever again.

Again, Statler didn’t hesitate.

“He’s been manufacturing and selling illegal firearms to foreign entities,” Statler informed her. “Once a month, a load is picked up by truck, shipped to the coast, and taken out to a freighter that brings it to the buyers.”

Considering what had happened, and was supposed to happen to her at the hands of that monster, Statler felt that the top-secret information needed to be revealed.

“William Flazer is a traitor to our country,” she ground out acerbically.

“He is. He uses that room he says is for classified government projects to make his weapons. His trusted minions are the ones who are in charge of the molds and assembly. And that’s not all. Flazer is upping his ante. He’s created a hidden floor beneath the building we’re erecting right now that will increase his work-space twenty-fold.”

Eliza hissed. “That’s where all the extra money has been coming from. I thought it was some kind of laundering scheme, and it is, kind of. It’s just that the funds come from his own criminal activities.” Tears appeared in Eliza’s eyes again. “My mother would be so disappointed.”

Statler wrapped his arms around her and held her as she trembled, but before even a minute passed, she was pushing him away.

“Now what’s this about you driving me to Bangor?” she questioned, her voice no longer tentative. “Your team needs you right now if I’m not mistaken, and don’t say that they don’t.”

Statler tried to downplay his role. “I’m not completely necessary,” he demurred. “Mason and SWAT are on the way up here as we speak, and my boss has everything covered at the coast, so I’m not really a key figure at this point. Blue and the boys can take care of things.”

Eliza pushed him away. Not angrily.