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“Okay,” he says. “I’ll announce my retirement next week. I’ll call a press conference next Friday.”
“Forget it, motherfucker,” Trap says. “You’ll do it tomorrow.”
“That imposs—”
“Tomorrow, asshole. Or I cut off your dick, put it in a blender, and feed it to you through a goddamn straw.”
“No,” I say, and I think it’s possible that both men had forgotten I’m here. I turn to Carver. “Youwillcall a press conference for tomorrow. But you’re going to use it to make the cases against Trap, me, and Braiden Kelly disappear. The cops have no evidence. The murder video is a deep fake. Case closed.”
Trap gives a tight little nod. He trusts me, even if I’m stepping on all his plans. That gives me the confidence to go on.
“And if any cases come up in the future,” I say. “Against us, or against Diamond Freeport, or against any of our clients, you’ll make them go away. Your office has nothing to do with Klaus Herzog or his brothers, Jonas and Ansel. You have no interest in their AI-nonsense videos.”
“I can’t promise—”
“You can,” I assure him. It feels like I’m swinging a sledgehammer. I have all the power in the world, but my bones might shatter from the weight. “If you don’t want me going public.”
He splutters. He starts half a dozen sentences, every one an argument about how he can’t protect me, can’t protect Trap, can’t protect the Diamond Ring.
But his eyes fall on my computer screen. On the devastating freeze-frame of him standing on a sheet of plastic, looming over my torn and bleeding body. The empty metal frame towers above us like a gallows, sealing his fate.
“But that’s not all,” I say to Carver. I’m shoving down my instinct to back off. Hardening my heart to do what I have to, to keep us safe—me, Trap, Braiden, and the rest. “No matter what, you willnotresign. You’re staying in office until your term ends three years from now. And you’re running again and again and again—until the voters in this state finally have the sense to put a decent man in office.”
It takes a moment for the penny to drop. But when it does, he looks at me with horror.
“That’s right, Counselor,” I say. And itishorrible—my power over him. I never would have had it if he hadn’t attacked me first. But he did. And I do. And the strength I feel scorches something deep inside me. “You’re staying in office,” I say. “And just to celebrate, Trap and I will send you a little present—a private, untraceable phone. Make sure you answer it, any hour of the day or night. Because this video goes public the first time you fail to do exactly what we want.”
He puffs like a bantam rooster. “I can’t—”
Trap’s fist slams down on the desk with a fury that startles even me.Carver turns whiter than his office walls.
“You can,” I assure him, meeting his terrified eyes. “And you will. Trust me. It’s truly amazing, the things a person can do to survive.”
Trap picks up the computer. I retrieve my briefcase. And both of us leave the office, not bothering to look back on the ruined man we leave behind.
22
TRAP
* * *
“Holy shit,” I say, the instant the elevator doors close behind us. “You don’t fuck around.”
Alix hunches her shoulders, all that glorious power and strength evaporated. “I’m sorry I stepped on your plan,” she says.
“Step on anything you want. You were fucking amazing.”
She’s as pale as a legal summons when the elevator opens onto the parking garage. We walk to the Range Rover, side by side.
When I open the passenger-side door, I lean close and whisper in her ear, “Any chance you’re free for a date? I just got good news, and I’m willing to pay for more than just the girlfriend experience.”
I thought she’d laugh. Maybe jack up the price and take me for a couple thou. I didn’t think she could top her black-bra-and-mini-skirt combo, but the lady-lawyer look is definitely growing on me.
But she brushes a kiss against my cheek and says, “Honestly? I’m starving. There’s supposed to be a new restaurant over on Union Street. Can we go there?”
“Of course.”
I’m such an asshole. We spent hours waiting for Little Miss Tight-ass to let us through the door. It’s no surprise Alix wants to eat.
