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“Why?! Why would you do that?”
“Because it was the right thing to do, Klarov. He’s...he’s not who we should be watching. He’s not the one leaking.”
“He’s using you,” Klarov said with certainty, there was pity in his eyes and the sight of it made something in Gracie snap.
“Someone broke into his house, he’s the victim here. There’s more going on here than just the leaked stories, this is bigger than that.”
Klarov just shook his head, looking at her like she was so wrong that he didn’t even know how to explain her mistakes to her.
“He’s really done a number on you, got you believing him. So what? He charmed you, romanced you and convinced you to break your cover? Unbelievable.”
This was why she'd always hated Klarov, with just a few words he could strike at the heart of her insecurities. Gracie always trusted her instincts, she never doubted them or second-guessed them. Usually that worked out fine. Usually.
But right from the first time she’d seen Chesney, her attraction to him had been getting in the way. Had she misjudged him because of that attraction? Had his pain earlier been an act?
“No!” Gracie yelled, no longer worried about disturbing her neighbors. “No, that’s not it! You’re so fixed on Chesney that you can’t see there’s more going on here.”
She stopped, not wanting to get emotional in front of Klarov. Instead, she turned away to dig her keys out of her handbag.
“What did you want to tell me about Huang?”
Klarov snorted. “Oh, are you still working the case? You’ve tanked it!”
“Of course I’m still working on it! There’s something going on here, that’s what I’m trying to tell you. I need to get to the bottom of it.”
“Why?” Klarov asked, his pity turning back to anger.
“Why?!? Because that’s what we do!”
“No, we earn money. I care about the agency getting paid for finishing a job, not getting to the bottom of mysteries!”
“Listen, if we clear this up then we’ll get paid. Whoever owns Attitude will pay up.”
That caught Klarov's attention and he looked around, making sure that no one was in earshot. Perhaps he could see that the case was bigger than Chesney after all. “There is something funky going on with that. The real owner, on paper, is the daughter of the guy that founded it. But ownership is held in trust by her uncle until she turns 25.”
“How old is she now?”
“Twenty-two.”
Gracie fiddled with the keys in her hand, not unlocking the door. “I spoke to her over the phone a few days ago. She’s the real owner?”
Klarov nodded slowly. “You really told Chesney about the case?”
Gracie sighed heavily. She couldn't regret what she’d done, she just wished that she could feel better about it.
“Yeah.”
Klarov looked away, out over the parking lot. “I’m not going to see a cent from Huang, am I?” His tone was more resigned now, he’d worked off his anger as he yelled at her. “I suppose you were due a bad case.”
“Thanks,” she said dryly. It was clear that he still thought Chesney was just using her. But Gracie knew he was wrong. Chesney wasn’t like that. But she had to decide how she was going to handle the case now that Chesney knew about her.
Chapter Ten
“Just go home,Klarov. It’s been a long night and I need to get some sleep,” Gracie said, wiping a hand across her face. Her skin was slightly sweaty from earlier and she needed to have a hot shower and try to forget the look on Chesney’s face when she’d told him the truth.
Klarov nodded, his eyebrows furrowing as he looked at her in concern. “Sure. Listen, try not to beat yourself up about this.”
“Uh-huh,” Gracie said, turning her back on him to unlock her front door. She didn’t want her boss to see the expression on her face. Klarov’s attempt to make her feel better wasn’t going to cheer her up.
