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I shook my head. No, I had to trust my instincts, otherwise what else did I have?
I continued steadily working, and my pulse quickened as I finally worked through the encryption on one of the files. What I saw stunned me.
If I hadn’t been clever, I might have fallen immediately for what I saw, but I knew better.
But still, my heart pounded.
A perfect collection of breadcrumbs that led straight to one person.
Mason.
My breath caught in my throat for a moment… but I steadied my breathing and kept going.
So much for trusting my instincts.
No, I had to be sure.
Looking at it… It was too obvious. It was too up front. It wassoclean and so direct that someone had to be framing him.
Theyhadto be.
At least that’s what I used to soothe myself as I tried to continue working quickly, searching for more evidence, either for or against Mason. Because if I was wrong, if Mason was the culprit, he was going to be back at any minute, and I didn’t know what I’d do.
I had to be sure. My eyes flicked up at the clock, watching the time as I steadily worked, cross-referencing account numbers, locations, contracts.
Someone had to have taken Mason’s foot steps and carefully tracked directly in them, using his tracks to conceal their own, while making it look like it was all Mason.
Right?
My pulse rang in my ears.
Or maybe I was in denial at what was in front of me, clear as day. My brain buzzed as I wondered if I was wrong. But I kept going. I had to be on the side of the man I loved. I had to be, because if someone was framing him, I was going to put them in the ground.
And if he wasn’t being framed, if this was all accurate, he hadn’t killed me yet… So, I’d play things cool until I knew for sure.
Slowly, I connected a series of shell companies and bank accounts that lead a strong clear trail right to Mason.
Getting more and more frustrated, I continued to dig.
Nothing giant arrows pointing to Mason, Mason, Mason.
My stomach sank, and I hated when I looked over my shoulder to see if he’d snuck up on me. I hated that I distrusted him.
But was my distrust misplaced?
Maybe I’d put too much faith in him, maybe I’d been naïve, and he’d said those three little words last night that’d been waiting to hear for so long. Maybe he was just a master manipulator, and I was the stupid little puppet, letting my strings be pulled all over the place.
Suddenly, the fear of everything I’d been through hit me like a wall. I dialed his phone and quickly called him, not sure if I was relieved when he picked up.
“Where are you?” I asked, trying to steady my voice, searching to see if something felt off.
“I’m almost back. I went to this cafe, and grabbed you some pasta and some eclairs for dessert, though I know whatI’mgoing to have for dessert.” He chuckled.
A shiver ran up my spine at the sentiment, and I licked my lips thatI’dbe just the thing for his sweet tooth. Conflict raged within me.
“I’ll see you in a few minutes… I love you.” He said, and I could feel his smile through the phone. My breath hitched in my throat at the casualness of ending a phone call with those words.
Did he even mean them? I wondered.
