Reid
The deposition broke for lunch.
At the door she paused, just fractionally. Then she was gone.
His old friend sat at the far end of the table, one arm draped over the back of his chair, pretending to look at ease.
Julian watched him with faint amusement.
Reid pulled out a chair across from Julian and sat down.
Julian looked at him with sympathy.
"Reid," he said. "I'm sorry you had to hear that. I genuinely—"
"I'm going to frame you," Reid said.
Julian stopped.
Reid kept his voice conversational. The same tone he used when he was walking someone through an audit finding. Factual, unhurried.
"The evidence I've been building isn’t enough,” Reid said. "You know that. I know that. The prosecutor knows that." He leaned forward in his chair. "So I'm going to frame you.”
Julian blinked once. Then laughed softly. “Excuse me?”
"I know how," Reid explained. "Better than you do, probably.” He smiled. “I’ll make it airtight.”
He heard the door open and when he turned, Maya was two steps into the room, the door swung shut behind her.
Maya. He wanted to go to her, he wanted to hold her, tell her that everything was going to be okay.
But first he needed to deal with Julian Cross.
She could hear this. He didn’t mind.
"You're bluffing," Julian said.
Reid turned back to him. “I’m not."
"You would never—"
"I would." Reid looked at him steadily. "I will."
Julian's jaw tightened. "You'd throw away everything. Your career. Your reputation. Everything you've built—"
“Happily.”
Julian stared at him.
"You sat at my table," Reid said. "You ate dinner in my house. You volunteered to help my wife and you used that access to steal from her."
He watched as the first hint of uncertainty flickered across Julian's face.
"So yes.” Reid felt completely at peace. “I am going to frame you.”
Julian's mouth pressed into a thin line. “Reid,” he said patiently, “you’re not a man who crosses legal lines.”
Reid laughed then. Julian was so wrong.
“You think the law is the most important thing to me?” Reid asked. “Maya is the most important thing to me.”
Julian’s eyes narrowed. Reid could tell the moment he decided to go after her.
“Buddy, you're destroying yourself over a woman who—"
"She didn't hit on you," Reid said. "You know that and I know that. Lie about it again and I will make it my personal mission to destroy your entire life.” He leaned back in his chair. “You should be happy that I’m only going to see you sent to prison.”
Reid stood. He picked up his jacket from the back of the chair.
“I know my wife.” Every word hard and deliberate. “I always knew her. The difference between now and before,” he said softly, “is that I’m brave enough now to believe her.”
Only then did he turn toward Maya fully.