Chapter 24
Twenty-Four
Sabine
I wake the next morning to a note on Astor’s pillow.
Fresh coffee in the kitchen, I’m in the office. FYI, Jackie is coming by this morning so she might be here when you wake. Yesterday sucked, but today is a new day. Let’s punch it in the face together. I love you.
PS. Sorry for cursing so early.
PPS. You looked so hot sleeping.
Love,
Your young, hormonal teenager lover.
I chuckle. I love this man so damn much.
After brushing my teeth and getting dressed, I grab a cup of coffee, and peek through the house, looking for Brittney.
The master bedroom is closed so I assume she’s with Valerie.
I can’t get Brittney off my mind. Something is spooking the poor girl and it’s making me uneasy. Is it only Valerie and her strange behavior, or is it something else?
I peer out the kitchen window she’d been staring out of the night before. I decide that I’m going to search every inch of the garden that was in her line of sight today. What am I looking for? I have no clue. But there’s something about her that piques my interest, and it starts with figuring out whatever she’s so scared of.
Also, I feel bad for her. Brittney is in that weird, difficult young adult stage. Not a teen anymore, but also not a woman. She’s riddled with anxiety, has money issues (as we all do at that age), and seems like she’s one bad decision away from a breakdown.
God knows I understand that.
When I was around her age, I accepted an underground job to manage a millionaire’s assets, illegally finding and securing financial loopholes for him. I had no idea at the time how that single decision would alter the course of my life.
Carlos, the man I worked for, was Astor’s archrival from high school. Their feud heated up when Carlos threatened Astor after Astor’s mother, a district attorney, sent Carlos’s brother to prison for tax fraud. Astor responded by sending Carlos into bankruptcy, igniting their feud. Carlos then kidnapped Valerie and staged her death, with the plan to lure Astor to his. Thankfully, Carlos’s plan was thwarted, but the aftermath left two people dead. Carlos and Valerie’s sister, Prishna.
I linger in the kitchen. When Brittney doesn’t emerge from Valerie’s room, I make my way down the hall.
Astor is sitting behind the computer engrossed in whatever is on the screen.
“Where’s Cillian?”
“Hey, you,” he smiles, beckoning me with his finger. “He’s in DC, handling business.” He taps his thigh. “He’ll be back tomorrow.”
I settle on his lap. “He’s a heck of a friend.”
“I’m aware, trust me. I owe him a lot, and I will repay him.”
“I have no doubt you will.” I squint at the computer screen. “What are you doing? Is that Valerie’s personal email?”
“Yes.”
“How did you get into it?”
He slides me the side eye.
“Ah, that’s right. You and all your gadgets and fancy software can hack into anything.”
“Cillian helped before he left.”
I chuckle.
Astor exhales, leans back. “Now that I’ve had time to decompress from what happened last night, I think Valerie’s behavior could have been legitimate.”
“You believe she didn’t realize what she walked into? Your head was between my naked legs, Astor.”
“I’m not saying that, but I think it could have confused her. I saw her brain scans, Sabine; I spoke to the doctors myself. Her illness is unquestionable and one of the side effects of her drugs is hallucinations; she knows this. She’s told me frequently that she thinks she has them from time to time. So her reaction—or lack thereof—isn’t what’s bothering me.”
“Then what is?”
“The fact that she wrote Chloe’s name on the shower wall. It’s almost like she’s communicating in a way that she can’t control.”
“That sounds way too creepy and paranormal for me.”
He doesn’t laugh.
“Okay so what are you looking for in her email?”
“Anything. I have this nagging feeling that she’s trying to tell me something. That we’re on the brink of something.” He shrugs. “Her email is the best place to start.”
I nod, and together, we scan the emails.
“Have you found anything?” I ask, already bored with the correspondence.
“The most interesting thing so far is that Valerie was in communication with the local farmer’s market. She wanted to begin selling the flowers from her garden and growing vegetables, and she wanted to understand how to get involved.”
“Does that surprise you?”
“Kind of. According to Jackie and her doctor, Dr. Squire, she was content. Maybe not happy, but content. She went out whenever she wanted, with security, of course, but she lived her own life.”
“Under your terms.”
“It was for her safety, Sabine.”
“Women need independence, Astor. When will you learn that?”
A moment passes between us as we both consider how Valerie’s adopted sister Prishna, felt so suffocated under Astor’s hold, financially and professionally, that she formed a shaky alliance with Carlos and went to great, murderous lengths to regain her independence.
I drag over a small stool and reposition myself on top of it. For the next hour, we drink coffee and filter through hundreds of emails, many between her and her sister.
Astor leans back. “I’m bored.”
“I’d rather be back in Louisiana.”
This earns me a laugh. He sighs. “There’s got to be something here.”
I’m just about to refill our mugs when?—
“Wait.” Astor squints, leans forward, studying a teeny-tiny arrow next to one of her mailboxes. He clicks on it. A new folder opens up. Inside it is another folder.
“This is a hidden mailbox. She intentionally hid whatever’s in this.”
A password box appears on the screen.
My brows pop. The coffee can definitely wait.
After two failed attempts, Astor calls Cillian.
I watch as Astor pulls what looks like a hard drive from the drawer and plugs it into the laptop. Several programs pop up. Cillian walks him through each one.
Under a minute later, the program cracks the password and the folder opens.
Astor hangs up.
“What are you waiting for? Open it.”
Inside are hundreds of emails between Valerie and someone named [email protected]
We look at each other. My pulse picks up and I can tell by the little vein in his neck that his does too.
He clicks into one.
From: [email protected]
I can’t wait to see you. I can’t stop thinking about you or what our life will be like when we’re finally together.
Love, Valerie
“Oh, my God,” I cover my mouth with my hand. Astor wasn’t the only one having an affair.
I grab Astor’s hand before he clicks into the response. “Wait. Are you sure you want to do this?”
“Is there any way I can’t do this?”
“Fair point.”
My stomach twists and I get the sick feeling we are about to open Pandora’s box.
Astor clicks into the response.
From: [email protected]
Soon. I miss you too. The plan is almost in place. Be patient, we’ll be together again soon. I love you so much.
Carlos