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Enzo spent the whole ride to Mrs. Glass’ cabin looking like he was about ready to punch me again. Naturally, I had no real fear of the man. Sure, he was a little buff for an old guy, but I was in peak physical condition. I had the reflexes of a cheetah and the training of… Okay, I’d actually never trained. But the point was I felt pretty confident I could’ve handled the old man in a scuffle. Fighting old bald guys was bad for business, though, so I decided to try to avoid things coming to that.
“Well,” I said once we’d stepped out of the car in Mrs. Glass’ long, packed driveway. “We’re here.”
He folded his arms. “I said I’d show up if you wired me the money. I never said I’d go inside.”
“You stubborn old bastard,” I said. “Fine. I’ll give you just as much if you go inside.”
“Deal,” he said.
I shook my head. Some love story, this was. The only way to get the horse to water was by wiring him thousands of dollars? I had to make sure I didn’t repeat this part to Mrs. Glass. I pulled out my phone and wired the money, then showed him. “Happy?” I asked.
He nodded, following me to the front door. He took one step inside, then walked back out. “I never said I’d stay inside.”
“Listen you little Mister Miyagi bastard, I’ll—”
“We’re done here,” he said smoothly, walking back outside with his hands in his pockets.
“You need to talk to her.”
“I’m not falling for it,” he said. “I’ve seen the videos online. You young people like to prank old guys like me. Let me guess. You’re going to record this for your Myspace? Going to put a video of me making a fool of myself on the internets so you and your friends can laugh at me?”
I blinked. Myspace? “This isn’t a prank, Enzo. I happen to believe in love, and I know love when I see it. Just go talk to her. I won’t even watch.”
He pursed his lips, then shrugged. “No. Don’t think I will. But it’s pretty out here, I think I’ll explore a little while I wait for a cab to get here. With all that money you gave me, I can afford to leave a generous tip.”
I licked my teeth. Dammit. I needed a woman’s touch here. I had to find Elizabeth. She’d be able to think of some way to get Enzo inside.
34
ELIZABETH
The flash drive felt like it was burning a hole in my pocket. It was like holding a poison vial—like knowing I held deadly purpose that could do irreversible damage if I unleashed it.
Travis had been gone for hours and people were already starting to leave the party. I felt desperation creep in and looked at the drive in my hand. If I borrowed someone’s laptop, I could upload the contents and email them directly to Adrian. He’d given me his address when this all started. If I made sure Adrian had whatever was on here, he could do what was necessary if the plan with Enzo didn’t work out.
I pulled the drive out of my pocket and clutched it tighter. I felt the indecision boiling inside me.
If I sent the contents of this drive to Adrian, I might be flushing my dreams of running Glass Designs down the toilet.
If I didn’t, Travis might ask for it back and I’d never have a chance to get this to Adrian again. And if I didn’t get this to Adrian, everything rode on the Enzo solution.
I pinched my nose and tried to push back a sudden headache. This should’ve been an easy choice. I thought it was a choice I’d already made.
Except my hesitation only lasted about two seconds before I went rushing off to ask a guy at the back of the room if I could please borrow his laptop for a few minutes. He recognized me, and grudgingly agreed. I plugged in the drive and saw some program run automatically. After a few seconds, a progress bar finished filling and a folder full of files opened up. I compressed it, then logged into my email and attached it to send to Adrian.
My finger hovered over the trackpad for a second before I clicked send. Then I clicked it and felt a huge weight lifted off my shoulders.
I shut the laptop and got up, feeling inexplicably lighter. I’d done it. I supposed there was no guarantee I’d found the right computer to give Adrian something to hold over Mrs. Glass, but he sounded confident they could use almost any records against her. And something inside me said I’d just made sure Travis was never going to see the inside of a jail cell.
Now the only question was whether I’d be his happy, jobless girlfriend, or his happily employed girlfriend.
