I bite my lip and tell him thanks, tossing my phone onto the couch.
“Everything good?”
“Yeah.” I scoot closer. “Holden’s going to keep an eye on my parents and let me know if anything is up.”
He nods while clicking into files from the copy of the hard drive. “Looks like there’s a backlog of financial records and they kept track of meetings.”
“That’s good, right? Maybe there’s a suspicious payout, like you said. Follow the money.”
“Yeah.” Fox’s thick dark brows flatten over his stormy blue eyes. “Jesus, this says they met with the mayor at the time to bribe him to overlook Richard taking that other guy’s place as chief. There’s more, too. Mostly at that steakhouse, but sometimes random addresses.”
I lean in to see what he points out on the computer screen. Seeing the proof of how deep the deception goes fills me with disgust. The steakhouse is known to be a hotspot for lucrative business deals and meetings amongst the power players in this town, but to find out they were doing stuff like this right out in the open doesn’t sit right with me. I had no idea any of this was happening.
“This is like insurance. They keep track of it so that if they were ever caught, they could bring down the whole house with them.”
Fox murmurs in agreement. “Whatever is going on, I think it funded a lot of the wealth in this town behind closed doors. Nexus Lab wasn’t as big back then, but since it’s grown to be one of the top producers in the last ten years, anyone connected got richer.”
I slip my hand into his when his shoulders go rigid. He holds it like a lifeline and I want to take away all the pain he’s carried.
Anyone who cooperated got richer, but people like his parents wound up dead. Could they have been trying to stop whoever was pulling the strings an
d blow the whistle on the whole thing?
“Do you think they did it to anyone who didn’t play along? What happened to your parents, I mean?”
“Maybe. It’s likely, but I…I’ve only been looking for anything connected to my parents.”
“Hey,” I say softly, encouraging him to turn his face to me. When he meets my gaze, my heart aches at the lost look in his eyes. “It’s not your responsibility to solve everything. Whatever we find, we can send it somewhere. Like a tip line. But you’re not a superhero, okay? Don’t feel bad because bad things happen in the world.”
His jaw works, but he nods, then tugs me closer. I climb into his lap and shield him from the computer by winding my arms around his neck for a hug. His strong arms band around my waist like a vice and slowly the tension in his body bleeds away while we sit there comforting each other. I comb my fingers through his thick hair and he leans into me with a rumble that vibrates in his chest.
We stay like that for a long time.
My heart feels heavy after going through what was hidden under the same roof I lived by my own parents. The deeper we dig, the more corruption and deception we find. It unsettles me that my parents had a hand in what we discovered.
Lies, bribery, death. All of Ridgeview is soaked in blood and it shakes me to my core that my parents are at the center of it all.
Colton calls Fox two days later with more answers. While he answers the call, I get a text. Grabbing my phone from the coffee table, I find a message from Thea and the girls in our group chat with a photo of Thea, Blair, and Gemma making silly faces.
Thea: We miss your face!!! Holden said you got in a fight with your parents. We’re staging another jailbreak kidnapping and demand girl time. We’ve got your back!
A pang hits my chest. I want to go be with them. On any other normal day, I would be, but I’ve been sucked deep into this world Fox exists in, one that lurks beneath the bright surface. I can’t drag my friends into this mess. Thea went through a scary situation last year and I won’t be the one to put her in danger again. And while Blair and Gemma are total strong badasses, this isn’t their problem either. It’s mine and Fox’s and it goes back ten years at the start of all of this mess.
Maisy: OMG excuse me, I just lost my heart to three beauties [heart eyes emoji]
Gemma: [Blowing a kiss emoji] We’re a fine bunch.
Blair: [smirking emoji] [black heart emoji] Come hang, we’re doing a beach day at the lake.
Maisy: I miss you too, babes. I’m laying low. You know how Dad gets track happy with my cell signal. Promise I’ll swing by the bakery this week though.
Thea: [GIF of a puppy dog face] You sure you’re okay?
Maisy: I’m good, I swear! I’ll see you in a couple of days.
Thea: Okay, be safe and remember we love your bright face!
Maisy: You all better do a face mask for me [heart emoji] Put it on Dev, you know he secretly loves it [laughing emoji]