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37 Will
THE CITY LIGHTS blurred my vision as the driver sped down the freeway, putting distance between Abe and me. I was dazed and confused after being clocked upside the head with the unbelievable information Abe had given me and his plan.
“You okay back there?” the Uber driver asked.
Okay? I was nowhere close to being okay. My world had just been flipped off its fucking axis and lodged itself in my throat. I couldn’t murmur a word of what I’d learned to anyone, not my father or grandfather. And most importantly, not Miranda.
Only I knew the truth, a truth that would send everyone reeling just like me.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks.” I kept my head down. “Diabetic, but I’m okay now.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah.”
Let the lies begin.
If I had thought the mayhem inside the glass walls of SJI was mind-boggling, I’d been a fool. Abe Santos had made me see the clusterfuck in SJI was far worse than we’d believed it to be. What he asked me to do turned my stomach. I wanted to run away and hide it was so ludicrous.
The man had to be certifiable. Under different circumstances, I would have called a lawyer. But the evidence he had presented, pictures and the long-ass report I’d paged through, showed there was nothing insane about his accusations regarding Jason Sayton, my longtime friend.
Hell, I’d treated him more like a brother, like family. How could he betray me?
My stomach roiled for the third time, bending me over. I put my head between my knees. I struggled to catch my breath, gasping for air as acid burned my throat.
“Ah, sir?”
“I’m good. I’m good. Just a little nausea.” Getting punched in the gut, then your innards ripped out and stomped on by your so-called best friend would make anyone fucking sick.
The stolen money. The unexpected visits. I saw it all now.
But that wasn’t what had me so fucked up. It was being thrust into a position I couldn’t get out of, a task placed on me I couldn’t refuse without potentially causing more injury to SJI clients and my loved ones.
During our brief meeting, Miranda had stayed at the forefront of my mind. I was doing this to protect her from Jason and whomever he was working with. Until we knew who was helping him, they couldn’t be stopped.
I understood the massive risk I was taking. I could lose Miranda before the truth came out. I prayed it wouldn’t come to that.
As Abe had said, I didn’t have a choice. My hands were tied, and in a week, I would begin the performance of a lifetime when Jason returned to town. The plan Abe had laid out made perfect sense, but I hated every bit of it.
Just as I hated every bit of my piece-of-shitfriend.
“The only way we can get close enough to Jason is through you. We need an agent on the inside to gather evidence and catch the names of whoever is helping him,” Abe had explained.
I had nodded, my brain numb. Then Miranda’s face flashed before my eyes, and I knew I’d do anything to protect her. This was too damn important to let the anger boiling inside me corrupt my senses.
“But I don’t want you to think this will be resolved in a week or a month,” Abe had warned. “We need time to gather indisputable evidence against him and the others involved so we can take the whole criminal organization down at once.” He’d quieted, sucking in a deep breath. “You need to prepare for this to carry on formonths.”
My head throbbed:indisputable evidence, months, organization. MONTHS.
Abe couldn’t give me an end date or estimated time of duration. An educated guess to when the nightmare that would become my reality would end.
Only to prepare to be in hell for months.
From the time I had left the bungalow and the Uber driver dropped me off at Santa Monica Pier, I’d been seething, clenching my fists and my nostrils flared. What if all this wasn’t real? Just some fucking out-of-body experience? I should be so lucky.
Somehow, I’d made it home, though it had all been a blur.
As I pulled into the garage after eight o’clock, my stomach twisted some more. This might be the last night ofnormalfor us. At the door, I inhaled and hid my duress as best I could. I had two goals: love Miranda completely and protect her with my life, even if it meant hurting her.
