20. Chapter 19
“You sure this is a good idea?” Hope asked, trying to keep the worry out of her voice. And failing . Even though she knew she was safe now that they were at the rental house, she was still nervous.
“I’ve done this before hundreds of times. We’re just going to try to get one of these guys to talk. That’s it.” Bradford sounded so sure of himself, which of course he was. She knew how much experience he had.
Still… “I don’t like any of this. We should just let them break into my place…” She paused when her cell phone buzzed. Her heart rate kicked up when she saw the message, so she held it out to him.
Hey Hope, this is Chelsea. I’ve got a new number. If you have time, could you stop by my office in an hour? I need to go over some things with your dad’s estate. In court now, can’t talk. But I’ll see you then?
“This is exactly what Killeen said he was going to do,” she murmured.
“Text the number back,” Berlin murmured from the kitchen table where she had a couple laptops set up and was monitoring all sorts of things, including Hope’s phone.
“And this is exactly why I’m going to your place,” Bradford said quickly. Then, surprising her, he kissed the top of her head and headed out of the kitchen to meet the others, who were already geared up and waiting for him in one of the SUVs.
She couldn’t argue with him, not when some of his friends were still in the kitchen—watching her. Probably judging her.
“Sit with Berlin,” Hailey gently ordered. “I’m going to make us all tea.”
It was only Hope, Berlin, Hailey, and Hailey’s husband, Jesse. Magnolia was upstairs resting—and no wonder, since she was so pregnant. Fleur was with her, keeping her company and watching “trashy TV” according to her.
Hailey’s husband was sitting at the island top on his own laptop, working away and talking quietly into his phone via Bluetooth. He’d been working from practically the moment Hope and Bradford had arrived back at their rental place, but he was still friendly.
Biting back a sigh, Hope sat at the oversized table in the kitchen nook that overlooked a large backyard and pond.
“He’s really good at his job,” Berlin said, her smile soft. “Promise.”
Okay, so not judging. His friends really were kind. “I know. I’m just worried.”
“They’ve got this. Adalyn will make sure they all come back in one piece.”
Hope simply nodded and looked at the screens. It was weird to see images of her dad’s home—her home—on-screen at various angles. “Thank you all, for helping.” She knew they were doing it for Bradford, but she was still grateful.
“It’s no problem. We all like a mystery, and we love Bradford.
” Hailey set a cup of tea in front of Hope and then sat across from her and Berlin.
She had a tablet in front of her she’d been working on, but she glanced over as her husband raised his voice.
“Uh oh,” she whispered. “He’s going into Scary Jesse mode. Someone’s about to get fired.”
Her husband stood then, phone in his hand as he stalked from the room.
“Aww, I was hoping to hear him get mean,” Berlin said without taking her eyes off the screen.
Hope felt weird sitting there with nothing to do, especially since she didn’t know these women. Sure, she’d met Hailey years before, but she didn’t actually know her the way she did Bradford.
“So is that them on-screen?” There was a small map in one corner of one of the screens, with a handful of dots moving along at about forty-five MPH.
“Yep. They’ve got trackers embedded in their vests and in their shoes. Just in case. We like to be prepared.”
She wanted to ask more about what they did as a company—it was clear that they were way more than a security company—but never would. She would ask Bradford later, but she couldn’t imagine them telling her anyway. And she wanted to hear it from him.
“This is good tea,” she murmured into the quiet, feeling off-balance with these strangers as she worried about Bradford. She would never forgive herself if anything happened to him because of her.
“Thanks.” Hailey smiled at her. “I’ve read your work over the years. It’s really good. I loved that huge piece you did on fraud, obviously. But my favorite one is your ongoing series about corruption in local government and how it affects the broader community. It’s been really eye-opening.”
“Ah, thank you.”
“I imagine it’s hard to write about that all the time. To know how much money is being mishandled and the damage it’s doing on a consistent basis—with no end in sight.”
“Wow, yeah, it really is. And I’m not complaining, but yes, it’s been very emotionally draining.
Probably worse in the last couple years.
It feels like there’s just so much noise out there right now and it’s hard to get people to care about things on a local level.
I think that’s the most frustrating thing of all.
People will post all over social media, but then not actually get involved or even vote. I’m… I find myself getting jaded.”
Hailey nodded. “I can definitely understand that. But you’re doing good work, just FYI. What you’re writing matters.”
“Thank you… I might be taking a break soon,” she said, mainly because she wanted to tell someone other than her friend Thea and Bradford.
“Good for you,” Berlin murmured as she worked on something on her computer. “You’re going to burn yourself out otherwise.”
Surprised, she glanced at the other woman.
“What? I’ve read your stuff too. It’s bleak as shit. But that’s why we do what we do.” Her mouth curved into what Hope could only describe as a feral grin as she started clicking away.
“She just found something,” Hailey whispered conspiratorially. “We’re about to be invisible to her for a couple minutes at least.”
Smiling at Hailey, she felt something ease in her chest. These women were really kind. Way more welcoming than she’d expected. “I’ve read about some of the new things you, your husband, and his friend, or partner I think, Constantine Pierce, have been doing the last few years. It’s impressive.”
“He gets all the credit,” Hailey said with a smile.
“Don’t be all modest.” Berlin still didn’t look up from what she was doing, but she was smiling.
“Fine. Since we’ve gotten married, I’ve used his money—”
Berlin cleared her throat.
“Oh my god, our money, stop interrupting,” Hailey shot Berlin a pointed look before turning back to Hope.
“We’ve started a charitable foundation whose main goal is to combat food insecurity, specifically with kids.
But also with families, especially single-parent households.
Too many kids aren’t being fed enough, are going to school hungry, and frankly I think that’s bullshit.
Both Jesse and I grew up in the foster system so we know firsthand how tough it can be.
We’re trying to work with local schools for now to make sure all kids are getting fed breakfast and lunch and…
I’m about to go off on a tangent.” Her cheeks flushed pink.
“No, I love hearing about this. Is it weird if I ask to talk to you later and maybe do a story on this? Like an in-depth one on the two of you, about your program?”
“She would love to,” Berlin said.
“Oh my god, you’re driving me nuts today,” Hailey muttered. “And yes, I would love to. I think she just misses her man,” she whispered conspiratorially to Hope.
“I can hear you and I do… Okay, here we go. The team has arrived and they’re setting up outside. They’re going to hang back and see what happens, who shows up.”
Any levity disappeared as Hope turned and focused on the screens.
“I’ll catch anyone inside your house though, which might come in handy later if we can get their faces on-screen.”
Hope knew all this, they’d been over it before, but she was still glad that Berlin seemed to be walking her through everything again. All of this was so overwhelming.
It was one thing to write stories about others.
She was always on the periphery, the narrator or storyteller.
This wasn’t a story, it was her life. And it was hard to sit back and wait for some strangers to break into her childhood home.
But she was trusting the process of all this. Trusting Bradford.
It was clear they knew what they were doing. And she knew she’d be lost without them. Hell, she’d have likely headed to Chelsea’s office today without question, and she didn’t even want to think about what that would have looked like.