Chapter 35 #3
"It is," Sammy chimed in from the backseat. "I bought it with my last paycheck in case he ever came back. I wanted... I wanted to catch him."
Well, I had to give it to him. He might only be seventeen, but he's a smart kid.
"You could use it. Go talk to him and maybe get him to admit that he planted the drugs."
He was right. Despite the way my stomach dropped when I even thought about being in the same building as Stu, I could talk to him. I could play into his narcissism and get him to say it. If I buttered him up, he would own up to what he did so fast.
Zoey shook her head. "I don't like you being in the room with him."
"I don't either, but I have to do it." If anyone understood the dangers of being in the same room as him, it was me. But the longer Rhys remained in Stu's custody, the more and more I worried.
He probably hadn’t slept. Who knows if he had eaten or been given water? I kept telling myself I was being dramatic, but in reality, I didn't know. Stu blackmailed a literal teenager to do his dirty work. I was beginning to think there was nothing he wouldn't do to keep Rhys away from me.
"How does it work?" I turned to look at Sammy, who spent the next couple of minutes walking me through the device. It sounded easy enough. Hold the button for three seconds, and it will start recording.
I just needed to get Stu alone, get him talking, and then hopefully he would fess up.
Easy enough.
I sighed, settling back in my seat while I fidgeted with the pen in my hands. God, I really needed this to work. My leg bounced nervously as we neared Boston, my stomach doing somersaults as I prepared myself to be in the same room with him.
I almost couldn't believe that after so many months of avoiding him at every cost, I was preparing to walk right into his office willingly.
Zoey and Sammy chatted back and forth about his mom and what they were going to do to get her out, but I tuned them out, giving myself a pep talk as a reminder of why I was doing this.
Rhys.
I was doing this for Rhys. To get him home and in my arms. To tell him that I loved him while he was safe, instead of while he was being pulled away from me in handcuffs. I could confront my past if it meant Rhys would be waiting for me when I was done.
Several quiet minutes later, we pulled into the Suffolk County Jail parking lot, and my hands immediately started to tremble. Zoey threw the car into park, grabbed her purse, and held out her hand.
"Give me the cash, you go first. If Stu has access to the security cameras and we go in before you, it could tip him off. Text when you're in his office, we'll head to IA."
I placed the wad of cash into her hands, then placed the pen in my purse before climbing out of the car. She rolled down the window, and I leaned in, looking at Sammy. "Thank you for this."
He shook his head. "I should be thanking you."
"I guess we'll call it even, then." I smiled before patting the frame of the window and standing up straight. "Text you soon," I promised my sister, desperately trying to ignore the worry on her face.
"Be careful," Zoey whispered. I nodded in response, once again not trusting my voice to be as strong as I needed it to be.
If I paid any attention to just how scared she was, I might actually talk myself out of going in there and facing him, and that just wasn't an option.
I ascended the stairs to the old building, my stomach churning with each step. Luckily, I passed through security without issue, though I could almost tell which officers were clean and which were stuffed into Stu's back pocket.
The ones who greeted me with a sad, sympathetic smile, as if I were an old friend, more than likely didn't know what was happening. It was the side eyes accompanied by smug smiles from the others that told me they were neck deep in Stu's pot of shit.
Which meant he knew I was on the way. I navigated the building with ease, wishing I were dressed in the comfort of my work clothes.
It was almost like armor. And I was walking right into the warzone without it.
I felt bare and exposed without the harsh clack of my heels on concrete or the hug of my favorite blazer.
I just felt like... me. Normal and not scary.
I felt a chill run through me as I neared his office, as if the air had dropped significantly in temperature.
I texted Zoey to let her know I was approaching his office, then deleted it in case Stu tried to look.
I clicked the top of the pen down, held it for three seconds to activate the recording, then placed it gently in my bag.
Before I could even prepare myself to see him, he stepped out of his office, a sly smile on his face as he took me in.
His gaze wandered over my body, desire flaming through his dark eyes. I choked back the urge to vomit all over his overly polished shoes. "Sloane," he spoke my name calmly, no indication that he felt any remorse for what he was putting me or Rhys through.
"I figured you'd come to see me sooner rather than later."
I wanted to run. Desperately. I wanted to turn around and walk right back out of the front doors and never look into his dark, dead eyes ever again.
Soon, I reminded myself, very soon.
I just had to get through this, and then we'd be okay.
Hopefully.
I could almost feel myself icing over; the soft, loving, emotional person I was with Rhys was buried deep within my mind as the cold, uncaring persona I used at work took over.
"I think we need to talk, Stu."