Chapter 14
Ryder
F inally allowing my feelings to show themselves and ignoring the what if questions may have been one of the best decisions I’ve made in my life. Having Elara with me and being able to call her mine is something that makes me genuinely happy. I could stay in this bed and lie with her forever. I wouldn’t care if the world crumbled around us.
Her body is warm against mine as she sleeps with her head on my chest. I’ve been gently running my fingers through her soft hair, careful not to wake her. She looks so peaceful as she sleeps. She is perfect in every way possible. Her witty and closed off attitude that she uses as a mask to hide her bubbly one that gets excited about getting to go to a ball is something I admire about her and seeing her open up during our time together and allowing me to see that side of her brings me joy.
She wakes up shortly after me, rubbing her eyes before wrapping her arm across my chest. I place a lazy kiss on her forehead and she looks up at me, focusing. “Hi.” She whispers as she smiles. “Hi to you.” I respond. We cuddle for a little while longer before she snakes out of the bed, going to the bathroom. She comes back out, putting her hair in a bun. “As much as I want to stay in bed all day, we should start looking at the USB.” She mentions, resting her hands on the bed. I sit up, diving towards her and pulling her back down with me. She giggles as I tickle her until she's breathless. I kiss her once she catches her breath. “I say we stay here. We almost got caught last night. The bed is safe from danger.” I counter, pulling her closer to me. “You’ve got me there. In your arms is the safest I’ve ever felt.” She replies, giving in. “Plus, you’re comfy and warm.” She adds. “I’ll take it.” I say, grinning.
???
We spend the next couple hours cuddling in bed, getting up for the occasional snack. May have thrown a quickie in there at one point too. But now it’s back on the grind. The work grind.
I grab the new laptop and log in before inserting the drive. Similar to Bardot’s secret file, hundreds of names appear on the screen. It’s a little easier to understand this time around but ?it’s also more incriminating. The names of at least fifty state senators on the list. “Holy shit.” Elara mutters as she comes up behind me. I turn around to see she’s wearing my button down shirt. Only the top half of the buttons remain since the other half are strewn around the bathroom floor. “Nice shirt.” I smirk, looking back at the computer as she pecks my cheek, wrapping her arms around me from behind.
“This is even bigger than we thought.” I state as I keep scrolling. The list is filled with members of government from multiple countries. “It’s not just Americans involved, there's government officials from Italy, Spain, Russia, and Australia, just to name a few.” Elara moves forward, getting a better view of the screen. “Are they all paying Sebastian?” I click on a few of the names. “No, some of them are paying him and some are paying and getting paid.”
“Quid pro quo with secrets and money.” She suggests. “Other things could be involved, too. The amounts aren’t the same in every transaction as the file Bardot had. These range from 5k to 20k.” I reply.
The people on this list are powerful in their own right and they aren’t the people whose bad side you want to be on. Let’s just hope we find something on them before someone catches on. There’s still the mystery of who killed Bardot. Just another thing on our plate for us to deal with .
Holloway is still off-grid, so talking to him is still not an option and the bureau only gives out work numbers, never personal. So, all we can do on that front is wait.
“Do any of the members of congress on the list have a known track record for not being on the up and up?” Elara asks. I scroll through the list a few times, trying to think if I’ve heard anything bad about anyone. “I can’t think of anything detrimental that any of them have done. But, if there's involvement from someone in the FBI or a higher-up, that could be connected. Someone with enough power could keep things out of the papers and just sweep it under the rug. The public would never know.” I say.
"And if they're perceived as the goodie-two-shoes type, no one would bat an eye if someone made an accusation, anyway," Elara adds. I can’t help but think that this case is going nowhere. Yes, we have the file from Bardot and the files from Sebastian, but without physical evidence, someone could construe these as forgery and we’d be at a dead end… or dead.