61. Leo
LEO
With only a few weeks until Isaac’s wedding, sorting through the email cache had become more important than ever. And with hundreds of millions of files to scan through, blackmail on Isaac had taken complete precedence over my questions about my parents.
There was a lot on those old servers — company memos, happy hour invites, contracts, and receipts — but most of it was chaff distracting from what we were really after.
The best way for us to get away with killing Isaac was to expose his crimes at the same time that we took him out: let the court of public opinion ordain his execution.
But it was a much riskier move if we couldn’t find something that proved exactly what he and his company stood for.
My eyes flicked up from my laptop screen to Kiera, who was sketching on the other end of the couch. Though it was Dom’s father we were delivering Justice to, I was strangely more worried about Kiera.
She’d killed once, but never someone so close to her. Isaac might be a monster now, but once, he had been a man she’d known and loved. Her father’s best friend, her uncle.
And though I knew she was committed to our cause, I could still see the distant look that had gripped her after killing Grant. Did she realize how much worse it would be when she knew her target?
She promised me she did, but I wasn’t convinced. I had no idea how I would handle it if I were in her shoes, but the thought was enough to send a shiver down my spine.
Before my gaze could distract Kiera from her drawing, I shifted my eyes to Dom, hunched over in an armchair across the living room. Her eyes were completely bloodshot — even while juggling work at Zeus, she’d been glued to these emails as long as I had.
Though we were supposed to focus on Zeus’ wrongdoings, I could tell that Dom was putting in extra shifts, desperate to get me some closure on my parents. She wouldn’t admit to it, but I was touched to think my friendship meant that much to her.
I shouldn’t have been surprised by her dedication, though. When she committed to something, Dom was a relentless motherfucker. And no one wanted her father dead more than she did.
Knowing what Isaac had tried with Kiera filled me with rage, but I had the benefit of distance and assurance. I knew that Kiera made it out of that night safely, that Isaac never got his hands on her again.
But Dom… even as Keith’s bones crunched beneath her fists, she knew that her father was to blame. Worse, she knew there was nothing more she could do to protect Kiera.
Now, she finally had a chance to set things right.
I wasn’t sure whether doling out Keith’s Justice made her cross any easier to bear. But I hoped that once Isaac was dealt with that she might be able to release some of the weight from her conscience.
I should stop wasting time…
Cracking my knuckles, I returned my tired eyes back to my screen. But before I could click through another collection of sales reports, Dom startled in her chair.
“Shit…” she murmured, eyes widening at her screen.
“What?” My stomach lurched as her clicking picked up speed. Had they detected her malware? Revoked our access?
But when she looked up, horror and relief clashed in her eyes. “I think I’ve got it.”
I tossed down my laptop and bounded over to her seat, looking over her shoulder to see what she’d uncovered.
“Spencer!” Kiera called down the hall as she took a spot on the opposite side of Dom.
“Found something?” Spencer asked, apron still hanging from her neck as she jogged in from the kitchen.
“More than just something,” I muttered, shaking my head. There were millions of emails and photos in a hard drive folder labeled “VAULT_00S.” And somehow, each file that Dom clicked through was more depraved than the last.
Amongst the collection were image and video files, flight logs, financial ledgers, and intercepted FBI interview notes. These fuckers hid behind code names and burner emails while they exploited children as young as nine, using their power and wealth to cover up their crimes.
It wasn’t long before I had to look away, feeling bile burn at my throat.
This made what we found in Gabe’s apartment look like small change.
“God, I can’t believe how… explicit he was.” Kiera shuddered, letting Spencer wrap an arm around her. “I don’t know if they make him or the people he’s blackmailing look worse.”
“It’s all the same,” Dom scowled. “Mutually assured destruction. If someone makes a move on him, his reputation is already ruined. At that point, all that forking over these emails would do is make sure that they go down with him.”
“Still,” Spencer shook her head. “I can’t imagine why he would put this shit in writing.”
“They’re old files,” Dom scowled. “Back before these fuckers realized that the internet is forever.”
“Plus, he was probably emboldened by years and years of getting away with his crimes,” I added.
Even through all the nicknames and coded language, it was easy to tell that there were thousands of the world’s most influential figures in these files. Politicians, celebrities, financiers, government agents, reporters, and business executives: all living in Isaac’s back pocket.
“Do a search for Callahan,” I muttered, pushing the words past the lump in my throat. If there was anything to find, it was clear that it would be in here.
For a long moment, the load bar stalled.
Maybe my parents really are innocent…
But then a long list of files loaded onto the screen. Hundreds of emails between my father and Isaac. Some contained government contracts and other under the table dealings. But many of them spoke in coded language about “the girls,” and who should be invited to ‘meet’ them.
It was less transparent than some of Isaac’s other chats, but it was clear exactly what they were arranging. And that alone was enough to make me sick. But then, buried in the mountains of evidence, I saw my own name.
“That one,” I directed Dom, my finger hovering above her screen.
And as she clicked into the downloaded email chain, my stomach twisted. At the end of a lengthy exchange about the latest contract my father had secured for Isaac was an invitation for a vacation.
ISAAC: You and Martha should visit us in Valemont. Cute town. Cuter girls. Yours has grown up quite a bit now. Leona?
GENERAL CALLAHAN: A bit old for your taste. She was much cuter before. The haircut is too dykey. Hoping boarding school breaks that rebellious streak. Martha and I can do August?
ISAAC: August could be good. Bring Leona if you can. Jared loves breaking dykes.
I didn’t realize Kiera had crossed over to me until her hand was pressed into my back. “Leo, don’t read that. You don’t need to see anymore.”
I shook my head, unable to speak. Unable to tear my eyes from the screen as those words burned into my mind.
I knew that my father was an animal — I’d given up hope on him being anything other than an abusive, homophobic, hypocritical, exacting piece of shit a long time ago. But seeing his cruelty in writing… seeing how close I was to being one of Isaac’s victims….
I’d been expecting to find him in these files, but not like that.
“Are you okay?” Spencer’s fingers dug into the back of Dom’s chair as she leaned forward to look at me. “Is there anything we can do…?”
“We can bury those fuckers,” I spat, pacing away from the laptop.
“I’m sorry,” Dom shook her head.
“Don’t apologize to me.” I met each of their worried gazes. “This is exactly the ammo we need. This’ll get the public on our side and then some.”
“You shouldn’t have had to see that,” Dom cut in.
“And their victims shouldn’t have had to live it.” I locked eyes with her, “But now that we have proof of all the horrible shit these monsters did, it’s time to air their shame. Let the world know exactly what they did to earn the Justice about to bang down their doors.”