Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 78334 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 392(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78334 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 392(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
I swallow hard, shoot him a glare for being high-handed, but then turn back to Josie. “I’m sorry. Habit of protecting my sources. I just… this is my job. I want to be the one who looks at what’s on it.”
Josie shoots me an empathetic smile. “Understood. I’ll add you on to an encrypted server so you can see how I organize all the information. I’ll also scan in all your hard documents, but if I may suggest, if you have any of this saved on your employer’s server, you delete it.”
I blink in surprise. “You mean I shouldn’t trust my paper?”
“You shouldn’t trust anyone who doesn’t work for this company,” Malik says, and my attention snaps to him. “The first rule is always assume everyone’s compromised.”
“Jesus,” I mutter and pinch the bridge of my nose. I’ve done some dangerous shit in my career, but I’m being told that there’s no one in the world I can trust except these people.
Who are people I don’t even know, except for Cole, of course.
And well, I trust him implicitly so I should trust them.
Malik nods once, decisive. “You’ll get a temporary clearance badge. Your evidence stays here. No copies leave this building. We verify your data, secure your safety, and build a case that will hold up under federal scrutiny.”
Air rushes out of my lungs. Relief. Fear. Both. “I’m not going to be staying here,” I feel compelled to point out.
Malik chuckles, clearly amused. “Cole told us you want to stay at your house, and we’ve got a team there now installing a top-of-the-line security system. You’re free to go anywhere you want, but I strongly suggest you keep Cole by your side.”
“And when will it end?” I muse out loud. “Because in ordinary circumstances, I’d publish my piece and let nature take its course.”
“Except now,” Cole says, his voice a low grumble of that same frustration I used to hear from him, “nature taking its course could be a forfeit of your life.”
Steepling his hands before him, Malik eyeballs me. “I assume you won’t give this up and the end goal is to publish.”
“It’s a hill I apparently might die on,” I quip, my bravado getting a bit of a kick-start.
Cole doesn’t like that statement and growls, muttering an obscenity under his breath.
Malik nods in understanding. “My recommendation is that when you’re ready to publish your piece, we have a complete copy of the evidence ready to hand over to the FBI. We have several former feds on our staff.”
“I don’t want them involved right now,” I say, sitting up straighter. Malik cocks his head. “They’ll kill my story. They only get the evidence after I publish.”
“Of course. I’ll be on standby, ready to introduce you to our contact when you’re prepared.”
Josie stands, snapping her tablet up and smiling brightly. “Let’s get to the bottom of this sooner rather than later so Tessa can get back to her normal life. I’ll begin with the shell corporations. By tonight, I’ll have a preliminary map of RainVest’s holdings, and I’ll pull satellite imagery of the Oregon fire zones for Cole to look at. Maybe catch something Erik noticed.”
“Thanks, Josie,” Cole says with a fondness that makes me wonder if they’re more than colleagues.
I push that thought away. None of my business.
Malik rises from the table. “Cole, you’re on protective detail and this will be the only case you work.”
I look at him, heart thudding. Protective detail.
Cole stiffens slightly but nods. “Understood.”
Malik follows Josie to the door but turns back to look at me. “Tessa… we won’t let RainVest get away with Erik’s murder.”
A huge flood of relief hits me, causing my eyes to sting. Because no matter how important it is to stop what RainVest is doing, I want the people that killed that man to pay for what they did. “Thank you.”
CHAPTER 5
Cole
While this apartment is almost twice as big as the one I moved out of, it still feels way too small sitting next to Tessa. Both of us are hunched over my dining table like grad students cramming for finals instead of two professionals dissecting a corporate arson scheme. Because we’re sharing documents, we chose adjacent chairs where we could easily pass information back and forth or lean the other’s way if needed.
It’s admittedly difficult to concentrate sitting this close to her. She’s as beautiful and sexy as ever, and a mere five minutes into our conversation last night at her house dredged up all kinds of feelings.
We broke up on the singular issue of her job and the dangers it posed. She was reckless back then, charging into gang-related territories to try to get a lead or poking at crooked politicians who could have ruined her. Outside of her job and my inability to handle the stress of worrying over her, everything else was perfect.