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“No.” Mara looked her dead in the eye. Her stare was heavy with fear and loss. “I mean, I can’t talk about it.”
Viotto sat up a little straighter. “You mean someone doesn’t want you to talk about it.”
She nodded. Now they were getting somewhere.
“Was it his father?”
“I’ve never spoken to his father.”
“His lawyer? His publicist?” When Mara diverted her eyes, Viotto leaned forward. “Okay, his publicist. Did she make you sign a non-disclosure agreement?”
Mara stood up. “I’m scared. I don’t want to talk about this.”
Viotto stood up, too. “Okay, okay. We don’t have to talk about it. You won’t get into trouble, okay? Thank you for telling us that. We won’t say anything.” He exchanged a look with Cassie. “But we need to know something else.”
Mara looked between them. “You want to know if his father killed him.”
“We have to ask. Was Connor afraid of his father? Do you think his father would be capable of that?”
“Capable?” Mara laughed and fell back into her chair. “Yeah. The way Connor talked about him, it’s like he was two different people. I guess it wasn’t always like that. But as soon as he set his eyes on running for president, everything changed. They had to be the perfect little family. Connor hated being told what to do.”
“Was he afraid of him?”
“He didn’t act afraid.” Mara thought for a minute. “Mostly, he just wanted to teach his dad a lesson.”
“What kind of lesson?”
Mara glanced at her backpack and then back to Viotto. “If I tell you, will I get in trouble for keeping it a secret? I was just so scared. And nobody came to talk to me. I didn’t think it was related to anything. I just—”
Viotto tucked his notebook away and knelt in front of Mara. “We’re more interested in finding out who killed Connor than getting you in trouble for being afraid, okay?”
Mara looked at Viotto and then Cassie. It was only after Cassie gave her a reassuring smile that Mara got up, walked over to her backpack, and pulled out a USB drive. She cradled it in her hands like it was a precious gem.
“Connor and I had a similar sense of humor. Dark but harmless. I guess you could call us hacktivists.” She rolled her eyes. “I thought it was a stupid word, but he liked it. Made him feel like he was sticking it to the man. To his dad.”
“Did you target anyone in particular?”
“Mostly we just liked to be annoying. We hacked the school’s website once. Drew mustaches on all the admin’s pictures and re-uploaded them. Stupid shit like that.” She laughed, but it was strangled with sadness. “Then we started looking at major corporations. Total shitbags. We talked a lot about figuring out ways to take them down. To give money to all the workers and leave the CEOs with a minimum wage salary. But we never did it.”
“Okay. That’s understandable. Can’t say I blame you for wanting to do that.” Viotto pointed to the USB drive. “What’s that?”
Mara looked at the object in her hands and held it out. She waited until Viotto took it, then walked over to her computer. She opened up her email and clicked on a message. Cassie couldn’t read it from her vantage point, so she stood and crossed the room. Mara stepped to the side. If it wasn’t for the housecoat, she’d look like she was ready to give a presentation.
“The day Connor went missing, he sent his dad this email. He basically tells him he’s going to take him down a peg. It’s something he talked about a lot. Connor wanted to be the one to expose his dad. He said it would hurt so much more.”
“He sent you this email?” Viotto asked. “Even though this was after you broke up?”
“He gave me that flash drive, too. I don’t know what’s on it. He found me outside the library the day before he disappeared. I tried to walk away from him, but he grabbed my hand and put this in it. Said he finally did it, what he’d been talking about for ages.” She was crying now. “He looked so sad. So broken. I wanted to take it all back, the breakup and everything, but I knew I couldn’t. I tried to ask him what was on it. He told me I’d find out soon enough. That I shouldn’t look at it.”
“Do you have any idea what’s on here?”
She shook her head. “But whatever it is, it’s probably enough to destroy his father’s political career
. Permanently.”
29
Cassie held her hands in front of the car’s vents to thaw her frozen fingers. The trek across campus had gotten her blood pumping, but the bite of winter air was enough to pierce her jacket and chill her to the bone. It took her fingers as its first victim.
