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“I’m sorry, Merry,” Shane said, holding her gaze with his dark, desperate eyes. He yanked free of Cole’s grip and started up the steps. Merry backed away until they were all crowded into the front hall of the building. The door shut, cutting them off from the curious audience. Funny, this space had always seemed large before, rising two stories up to the ceiling. Now it felt so small she felt panicky.
“I’m sorry,” Shane repeated, looking so hopeless that Merry’s stomach turned to stone.
“What did you do?”
“Merry,” Grace whispered. “Cole heard you say something about the lawsuit against Providence.”
“Yes.”
“Cole didn’t know. He had no idea.”
Merry looked from Shane’s wild eyes to Cole’s solemn ones. “Didn’t know what?”
Cole grimaced and shook his head. “I didn’t know there was a lawsuit. He only said there were probate issues.”
“Who? I have no idea what you’re talking about. Just tell me. Please!”
Shane’s head dropped. He’d lost his hat sometime during the fight, and he looked vulnerable now, his short hair messy, as if they’d just gotten out of bed. But that was no comparison to the vulnerable pain in his eyes when he looked up. “It’s me, Merry.”
“What’s you?”
“I’m the one suing Providence.”
“What?” Merry pulled her chin in. Then she laughed. “No, you’re not. The man who’s suing is Gideon Bishop’s grandson.”
“That’s me. I’m his grandson.”
“No.” She shook her head, almost relieved now. “It’s not you. Look.” She spun out of Grace’s hold and walked into their apartment to grab a folder. “See?” She pulled the bio of Gideon Bishop free and let the folder fall to the floor. She held up the paper. “He was survived by his grandsons, Alex and Shane—” her voice broke over that syllable “—Bishop.”
“Bishop is my father’s name. I took my mother’s name when I was nineteen. Because of my dad and…” His voice trailed off. Merry just stared at him.
“No,” she said again, a little louder this time.
“I’m so sorry. At first, I admit, I helped out at Providence for the wrong reasons, but then, I swear to you—”
“You,” she croaked. Her throat seemed to be closing as the truth sunk in. “You were spying on the town? That’s why you made friends with me?”
“No, that’s why I took the job. Not—”
“Oh, God. That’s why you were so nice. That’s why you… That’s why you flirted with me, and…” She trailed off in shock.
“No,” he ground out. “No, that’s not true, Merry. Don’t think that.”
He moved toward her. Cole tried to grab him but wasn’t quick enough to stop him. But Grace was.
She jumped forward, and the slap rang through the space, bouncing off the walls to echo up to the second floor. “Don’t you fucking touch her,” Grace snarled as a red handprint flamed to life on Shane’s cheek. “I will kill you, do you hear me? I’ll kill you if you touch her again, you sick asshole! I’ll tear your eyes out and shove them up your—”
“Grace!” Merry screamed. “Stop. Just stop! I can’t do this!” She rushed into the apartment, slamming the door behind her. But that didn’t stop the wild orchestra of raised voices that seemed to shake the room around her.
Oh, God, this was… She couldn’t think about it. She couldn’t, because there were so many things. Dozens of things. All cutting into her from the inside out. All of them sharp and jagged and so completely wrong.
She’d hired the man who was suing the trust. She’d lied about it and covered it up. She’d told him things about board discussions. And, she’d told him what she’d done. The mailbox and the sign and all the lying.
Merry’s legs slowly gave up their control and she sank to the floor. There was more than that, of course. There was so much more, but she couldn’t think about the other things. No. She was going to be fired. She’d lose her job. She’d be disgraced and she’d never get another museum job again.
And that might not be the worst of it. What if she was charged with…something? What if she’d done something illegal?
She buried her face in her hands and refused to think of the rest. Just this was bad enough. Just this was too much to bear.
