Chapter 41
CHASE
“Start talking…and where are we going?”
I glance through the window as streets rush by—Hudson, Greenwich, and then Broadway, the storefronts buffing with each mile into glass and steel.
“SoHo. I think we found the link.” Evelyn bites her lower lip in the seats opposite Sunny and me, throwing her gaze to Tessa in the seat beside her.
The older woman presses her slim rectangular spectacles further up her nose before she speaks. “Did you notice the language in the manifesto? There were lots of repeated phrases that felt a little odd.”
“Well yeah, I assume you have to be a bit of a nut to write a manifesto.” I frown, not seeing where this is going.
It’s a thirty-page long garbled rant about how we need to fuck the patriarchy.
“True,” Evelyn interjects. “But one phrase kept leaping out at me in particular: ‘I find myself.’” She leans forward in her seat excitedly. “I couldn’t understand why I kept coming back to it over and over again, so I asked Tessa.”
Tessa nods slowly, the late afternoon sun glancing off her spectacles as warm leather scents the air. “And who do we know who says that dang phrase over and over and over?”
My brain catapults me backward a thousand miles per hour, landing me in my boardroom all those weeks ago.
“I find myself satisfied with our progress.”
Elizabeth.
And then to another scene, outside my office while I watched the sunlight dance off Pepper’s high cheekbones while she laughed. Elizabeth had said that then, too, poking her head out of her office.
And all the times before that, scene after scene flashing into my mind from the past few years like an old-fashioned animation pad.
“Elizabeth,” I breathe, my heart thudding ever faster in my chest.
Could it be? That one of the few people I let into the inner circle of this company is the one trying to sabotage it all?
“Bingo,” Tessa confirms, wide mouth twitching up at the corners.
“Did you know that we hired her fresh out of the CIA? Covert operations, three years as a cyber officer.” Evelyn sits back in her seat, ironing out a crease in the skirt of her dress as she watches the penny drop.
I’m reminded of the satellite image of the safe house not matching the location…like it had been purposefully changed to hide it. I’m sure an ex-government agent would have the connections to do such a thing if they wanted.
This is all hypothetical at the moment and I’ve yet to hear of any proof, so I know there must be more. The two tenacious women in front of me are far too smart to bring me on a wild goose chase unless they’ve already speared the gander.
“What am I missing?” My hand clamps tighter around my phone.
The two women glance at each other knowingly as the car pulls to a stop outside a sleek apartment building.
I clock a man in a suit waiting outside the doors, and recognize him instantly.
Miles Compton lounges in sunglasses against the steel support beam with a large newspaper in his hands, apparently absorbed in reading it.
“We pulled Elizabeth’s work email and phone records, and she’s been communicating with someone external for months. All in code, but we managed to decipher some along the way.”
“Who was she speaking with?”
“No clue, it was a burner account. But…if we’re right, they’re meeting in one of these apartments right now, and they should be heading out here any second.
” Evelyn uses one soft pink manicured nail to tap on the car window at the glossy silver and glass doors at the top of the apartment building steps.
As if called into existence by the gesture, a shadow moves behind the sun-drenched doors. The reflection is too bright to see anyone yet, but the door pops open a few inches, almost like someone pausing to say something to the person behind them, and then it opens all the way.
Elizabeth walks out of the door onto the top step in her charcoal Armani suit, holding the door for a second as a much smaller lady steps out behind her, her face shielded by Elizabeth’s tall stature.
The apartment lobby is set far enough back from the sidewalk that the normal foot traffic in front of the building isn’t close enough for their conversation to be overheard.
We all lean forward in our seats, even Sunny, who has been avidly paying attention this whole time.
Months of chasing down leads has come to this moment right here, and the only pang of regret I have is that Pepper should be here.
She worked so hard to get us here. I really wouldn’t have been able to do it without her.
I push the heaviness in my chest away for a few moments, needing to focus as the women switch places, the sun making it impossible to glimpse the smaller one as they talk.
Her back is in plain view now: a pink cardigan and short blonde hair, with a small slide clip bearing a white bow on the side of her head.
“Wait…” Sunny blows out the incredulous word, scrambling for her pockets. “I think I know that woman.”
“What?” Evelyn blurts out, her neatly pinned hair swiveling in shock.
I watch as Sunny pulls out her phone from her pocket and starts tapping the screen. She holds it swiftly up to her ear, her eyes wide as she peers back out of the window.
I hear the tinny line ringing faintly in the background right as the small blonde woman on the steps jerks, her hand reaching for the bright purple purse under her arm. What is this, corporate espionage by Hello Kitty?
Elizabeth pauses as the other woman pulls out her phone and looks at it for a brief second before declining the call. The ringing abruptly cuts to voicemail right at that second.
“That’s Rosie,” Sunny croaks, her hand slowly trailing back to her lap. She turns her stunned face to mine. “She’s from paint club, you’ve met her.”
As someone who proclaims to have a big brain, I sure as shit feel dumb right now.
I flick back through my memory of that night, looking for someone short and blonde with Barbie doll colors…
and all I can picture is Pepper’s face. Her lip curled with anger and her eyes bright, and then the softer, more vulnerable version of her that broke through the mask when she asked me to leave.
That was the first time I saw a glimpse of something in her that I recognized in myself.
Someone who was once a victim, and swore never to be again.
It eclipses everything else in frame, leaving only blank fuzzy space where it should have been.
“I don’t recall.”
Evelyn clicks her tongue exasperatedly and I shoot her a glare. Now is really not the time to chastise me for my selective photographic memory.
“How did you meet her?”
Sunny chews the inside of her cheek hesitantly and I glance back at the steps to see the two women shake hands, my stomach plummeting as I realize it’s a parting gesture.
“No time,” I say abruptly, unclipping my seatbelt and throwing open the car door, the busy downtown traffic noise a wash of background clamor.
Both women turn to look at me and their faces drop. Miles flops down the corner of the large newspaper behind them and gives me a subtle nod I don’t visually acknowledge.
“I think we need to talk, don’t you?” I direct my words at Elizabeth, who stands frozen like a statue.
She recovers herself quickly. “Mr. Walker, what brings you here? Can I…” She trails off, a swallow getting stuck in her throat.
The small blonde woman decides it’s time to leave, and spins around to march away, but Tessa steps into her path. “Pretty sure I can tackle your ass to the floor if needed, Blondie.”
I’m pretty sure that’s a bluff, given how much she complains about her arthritic knees, but she pulls it off with enough bravado that the small blonde woman shrinks back.
“You know why I’m here, Elizabeth, and it’s time to start talking.” I slide my hands into my pockets, irritation creeping into the static-filled spaces between my skin and my clothes.
The now pale woman does the opposite, her mouth clamping shut. She lifts a nervous hand to the severe brunette bun at the back of her head.
“Oh, there’s no point denying it now, Lizzie,” Rosie snaps, blowing a strand of blonde hair off her face. Elizabeth flinches and looks her way. “He’s a lot of things, but dumb isn’t one of them.”
The blonde turns small blue eyes my way, her top lip rising. “I’m surprised it took you this long to catch up, Walker.”
“Who do you work for?” I steeple my spine, rising to my full height.
“I don’t work for anyone,” she spits, her shoulders rigid squares.
“It’s Incognito, isn’t it?” a small voice from behind me asks, and we all pause to look back at Sunny. “You and Pepper, you’re part of Incognito.”
Rosie looks stumped, her mouth agape as she looks at Sunny.
“The anonymous hacker activist group?” Evelyn asks, her neat brows pinned together.
“We are Incognito, you silly child!” Rosie’s fists clench at her side, color flooding her face.
A small lightbulb flickers to life inside my head, and suddenly everything starts to slot into place.
“But your sister is too soft, refusing to steal money or do anything more than expose people. She’s not fit to be our headpiece, and I, for one, have had enough.”
Headpiece?
The small woman prowls toward me, sparks flying from her ears as she pierces me with magma-level contempt. “Men like you need to have everything taken away from them.”
I muster up the best arrogance I can, playing into her energy and giving her exactly what she expects. “So tell me, Rosie. How exactly do you plan on doing that?”
I address her with no more interest than a spider might a fat fly, already tangled in its web and suffocating. It does exactly what I intend for it to do, incensing her even further.
“I’ve been stealing from you for months, right under your nose and you didn’t even realize it,” she hisses, just inches away. “And all that money I’ve taken right out of your pocket is stashed away somewhere no one will ever find it.”
She appears to be smug, like she’s delivered the final blow in a death match. I rock back on my heels, letting out a contemplative hum.
“Did you get all that, Miles?” I throw over her shoulder casually.
The man shakes his newspaper straight, folding it and strolling unhurriedly toward us.
“Who are you?” Rosie demands as Elizabeth’s hand leaps to her mouth at the sight of Miles. “What do you mean?” the short blonde woman demands, rushing her attention back to me.
I simply nod in Miles’ direction and he slips out his phone from behind the paper, showing her the red light to indicate it’s recording.
“Give that here!” She snatches for it, but Miles is too quick, lifting it out of her reach. Considering she’s knee height with a grasshopper, it’s not that hard a task.
“No, I don’t think I will. And what’s more,” Miles drawls in an admirably apathetic tone, “if you don’t want this recording to end up in the hands of the DA’s office, I suggest you return the illegal proceeds to Mr. Walker and turn in the names of any accomplices you were working with within his company. ”
The woman’s face trembles, her mouth clamped shut and cheeks turning mottled as though she’s holding in geyser-like pressure. After a few fraught seconds, her shoulders slump.
My phone vibrates in my hand, and I glance down to see Landau’s name flash on the screen.
“Have you got this from here?” I turn to Evelyn and catch her staring at Miles with eyes that could almost qualify as love hearts.
“What? Oh! Yes, of course.” She nods, the tips of her ears turning pink.
“And can you please take Sunny back to the office with you?”
“Yeah, of course.” She raises her eyebrows, her sky-blue gaze resting on the teenage girl who remains too engrossed to notice.
I nod my thanks and answer the call.
“Walker.”
“Where are you? I’ve been trying to get a hold of you for an hour,” Landau’s grizzly voice barks down the line.
“What is it?” My heart pounds in my chest, residual adrenaline resurfacing and blooming into something else altogether.
“Detective Morris is leaving now. If you still want to go with them, you need to go right now.”
“I’m on my way.”