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CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Mr. Oliver turned his head to his right, pressing down on his radio as he spoke into the mouthpiece. “This is Unit 2102. Cancel that backup.”
Something unintelligible came through the other line. Regardless, he must’ve understood because he answered. “I’m on the scene. I checked all the perimeters. The place is secure, and the assailant is already gone. I’ll assess the damage and call back.”
He let go of his mike, then crossed his arms in front of his chest and glared at her. “You wanna tell me what you’re doing here and what this is all about? Because from where I’m standing, this doesn’t look good.”
His eyes surveyed the wrecked office, and when his gaze returned to her, she tried to say something but found it impossible. Her tongue turned to sand, her throat raw and dry like the desert. Wincing, she forced herself to swallow, then cleared her throat as she realized the severity of her situation. “It’s not what it looks like.”
“Oh, yeah?” Mr. Oliver’s eyes sparked like he enjoyed her discomfort. Then again, he dealt with criminals every day, and Abby’s situation, well, it didn’t look good. Never mind the fact had Klein’s office not yet been broken into, she planned to do it herself.
“Mr. Klein is my grandmother’s lawyer. He is handling my trust fund, among some other things for me after her death, and I came here to see him.”
“On a Sunday?”
“I thought he might be in. It’s not uncommon for him to work long hours and weekends.”
Totally plausible. He was a lawyer, after all. Weren’t they supposed to be workaholics?
She twisted her hands in her lap. “When I got here, I saw the broken lock and the shattered door, and I freaked out. I thought someone might be here that needed help, so I came into his office. I found it like this.”
“So you just happened to come here. Today. With the place in disrepair?”
Abby nodded, knowing how implausible it sounded.
Mr. Oliver pursed his lips. “The same week you convince my son to sneak out of the house, and two weeks after you came to the precinct asking questions about a guy’s murder. You want me to believe you had nothing to do with this?”
Abby’s stomach clenched as Mr. Oliver’s narrowed gaze bore into her.
“Yes. Because it’s true.”
Mr. Oliver shook his head, then stared at the ground a moment before lifting his eyes to hers. “Funny thing is, I do believe you. But if the detectives find one tiny piece of evidence against you, that’s it. You’re done. Do you understand me?”
Abby blinked, confused. “Wait. Are you letting me go?”
“On one condition.” Mr. Oliver’s jaw clenched. “Stay away from Kaden. You’re trouble, and you’re no good for him. You stay away from him, and I won’t say a word about finding you here.”
Ice filled Abby’s veins. She stared at him in the silence, debating on calling his bluff.
“You’re sneaking him out of the house, snooping around and poking your nose into old cases, and now you wind up here? In an office that’s been mysteriously broken into.” He shook his head. “You keep your distance, and we have a deal. But if you don’t follow through on your end, and I find you running around with him again, the detectives will have reason to believe you were involved. Do we understand each other?”
Everything in Abby wanted to say no. Everything inside her wanted to tell him he was wrong about her, but deep down, she worried he was right. Hadn’t she, herself, questioned whether she should freeze Kaden out of this, to cut him off and avoid any further involvement in unraveling whatever mystery GG died with?
Whatever this secret was had cost at least more than one man his life. Someone had broken into her room and rummaged through her things. And, now, breaking and entering and stealing could be added to the list of crimes.
She cared about Kaden, and though she wanted his help and craved him in her life, she wanted him to be safe more.
She nodded, knowing what she would say before the words left her mouth and already hating herself for it.
“It’s a deal,” she whispered, then stood and left Klein’s office with a heavy heart.
SHE SAT UPRIGHT IN bed and brought a hand to her chest, where her heart raced. Sweat beaded her brow, and her breath came in ragged puffs as she tried to erase the image of Klein’s office from her head. Only this time, Kaden was there as Mr. Oliver carted her away, cuffed, in the back of his cruiser as he watched.
She closed her eyes and caught her breath, wiping her forehead with the back of her hand. Twisting in her blankets, she reached for the bottle of water she always kept on her nightstand. The cool plastic pressed against her palm. She snatched it up and pressed the bottle to her lips, drinking in greedy gulps until it was almost gone.
Sighing, she put the empty bottle down and threw the covers off her sweat-soaked body and leaned over her bed. Her fingers grappled at the box she now kept hidden underneath it, and she pulled it out.
She had nothing but time to solve her grandmother’s secret now that she was grounded until the end of time, and no, she wasn’t exaggerating. Her mother, literally, used those words. When she had returned home from Mr. Klein’s office, punishment rained down on her, but she couldn’t find it in her heart to care. She could no longer see Kaden, and suddenly, he seemed the only thing worth leaving her room for, so she resolved herself to weeks of piecing together the puzzle of her grandmother’s secret until she got it right.
