Chapter 52
Ace
“Then start talking,” Tessa says.
Her voice doesn’t shake.
Not anymore.
I stay right beside her.
Close enough to step in.
Close enough to stop this if it turns.
But I don’t interrupt.
She needs this.
And I’ll be here when it hits.
“You said I wasn’t supposed to take the fall,” she presses. “So why didn’t anyone stop it?”
He studies her.
Then—
“Because by the time we realized what happened… it was useful.”
Useful.
I see it hit her.
Hard.
“To who?” she demands.
“To people who needed someone clean to disappear.”
My jaw tightens.
“Clean?”
“You had no record. No connections. No reason for anyone to look twice at you.”
Perfect.
I step closer.
Not touching yet.
But ready.
“So you let it happen,” she says.
“Not at first,” he replies. “But once it did… it solved a problem.”
Her anger flares.
“All of you let me go to prison for something I didn’t do.”
“You went to prison for something someone needed buried.”
That lands worse.
Buried.
“What was she doing?” she presses. “What was Cathy involved in?”
He exhales slowly.
“Money,” he says. “But not small money.”
My grip tightens.
“Then what?”
A beat.
“Government contracts. Black funds. Offshore accounts.”
The air shifts.
“What does that have to do with her?” I ask.
His eyes lock onto Tessa.
“Everything.”
I don’t like that.
“Explain.”
Now.
No more games.
“You weren’t in the wrong place,” he says.
My instincts spike.
“Then where was she?” I ask.
His voice drops.
“Right in the middle of a transfer.”
Everything tightens.
“The car,” he continues. “The accident. It wasn’t random. Daniel wasn’t supposed to kill anyone. He was drinking and got sloppy.”
No.
I see it hit her again.
Doubt creeping in.
I step closer.
Rest my hand lightly at her back.
Grounding.
She doesn’t pull away.
Good.
“What are you saying?” she whispers.
He watches her carefully.
“Your friend wasn’t just moving money,” he says. “She was moving information.”
That’s worse.
“What kind?” she asks.
“Names.”
Silence hits hard.
Names.
That’s bad.
Real bad.
“Names of who?” she asks.
“People in power,” he says. “People who paid to stay invisible.”
My blood runs cold.
“And she had that?”
“Yes. On a drive. In the car.”
Everything clicks into place.
“They weren’t after you,” he adds. “They were after that.”
I exhale slowly.
“What happened to it?” she asks.
His smile fades.
“That’s the problem.”
A beat.
“It disappeared.”