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Nothing really bothers me until I find pictures of my parents together. Eating lunch. Leaving the movies. The most recent one is right before my dad turned himself in.
“Who is she?” Riley asks softly when I clench my fist.
“My mother,” I growl.
“She’s alive?” he gently inquires.
I take a steadying breath, redirecting my anger before it becomes misplaced. “Yes. In the Valley.”
“And who is that?” Ezra asks.
“Her father,” Riot answers for me.
They stay quiet as I move the images over to the external hard drive. File after file, I slowly uncover all the blackmail Juan has—had—on me. I don’t know if he still has copies, but I’ll destroy this laptop as soon as I’m done digging.
There are pictures of Lory with a few one-night stands, but there are never repeats of the women he brings home. The only other images of Lorenzo are of him passing off black duffle bags to clients.
There are too many pictures of me... With Riley. With Kane.
And with David... That’s where they get a little weird.
Some of the pictures are from inside David’s house, taken while I’m in the shower or asleep or leaving. Always my profile, never head on.
“He was working for Juan the entire time?” Riley queries, his voice a harsh whisper.
“I don’t think so,” I reply. “Or maybe not in the beginning. But he definitely got some information about me from Jaun, so they met at some point.”
Then I find images of Kane at work and Riley with Ezra and Quin... Pictures of him with his sister.
“Call Camille. Make sure she’s okay.”
“All right,” he says, though he doesn’t move. “Gem, some of these are really old. Like that one. Camille doesn’t have the tattoo on her arm yet. She got that nearly two years ago.”
I rub my hand over my mouth. “I don’t understand. None of this is enough to prove anything to my grandfather, unless he’s trying to show that Lory and I aren’t loyal to each other. He intended to use you guys and your family as blackmail against me. That much is clear. But he doesn’t really have anything on Lory.”
“He was going to use you against Lory,” Riot says, though he shakes his head before I can comment. “What was it you were aiming for when hitting his dens?”
“Stirring his paranoia,” I explain. “Breeding the idea of deceit in his ranks. Making his men fear he was losing his mind as he turned on them.”
Riot nods. “Wouldn’t them seeing you with a federal agent and the kids of the Zombies’ President do that?”
“Yes, and no.” I frown as I graze my finger over the cut on my lip. “Yes, for the people who don’t know me. No, for the people who know my name.”
“Why?” Ezra challenges.
I raise a brow. “The people who know me won’t be swayed. But the rabbits who don’t know me as the hunter will run toward the wolf in a panic.”
“What?” they both ask, one tired and the other aggravated with my answer.
“I’m the hunter in the scenario,” I declare. “Juan Carlos, my grandfather... They’re the wolves.”
“And Estrada?” Ezra inquires.
I shrug as I unplug the hard drive and hit the factory reset on the stolen laptop. “He’s a hunter who’s ventured into the wrong forest.”
Riot leans back on the couch, glaring at the ceiling. “That’s what you were talking about when you were explaining the conversation you had with your dad?”
“Yes.”
