“So you can lie again. And again. And again.”
“We have to talk.Whereare you?”
“I don’t want to see you, Nick. Not now or ever.”
“I love you, Faith. I love you so much it hurts.”
“Liar,” she says, her voice quaking.
“Faith—”
“Don’t find me. Don’t call me. And let me be clear. If you show up at my work, at the winery, at my home, I will call the police. Don’t test me. You think you’re a badass, but liars aren’t badasses. They’re just bad people. I left your BMW in the parking lot of your new apartment.”
She ends the call. I try to call her back and it goes directly to voice mail. “Fuck.” I call again. And again. “Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.” I face the window and press my hand on the glass, my head tilted downwards. “Fuck. I cannot lose her.”
I straighten and dial Beck. “Mercury. This is about mercury. I don’t know how or any details except that. Connect the fucking dots. I need answers. And hack the autopsy report. I need that now, too.”
“Faith knows.”
“Yes, she fucking knows.”
“Then Bill is behind this. He showed up near her office and I couldn’t get through to you to tell you.”
“So he told her who I am and that there is mercury on the property.”
“He made her believe you want the property for the mercury.”
“Obviously. He turned his intentions into mine and my damn lie allowed it to happen. Where is she now?”
“She went to Sara and Chris Merit’s apartment.”
“Of course. The one place I can’t get to her at and she knows it.” I scrub my jaw. “At least she’s safe. Get me answers. I can’t go to her and make my case without answers.”
“I hack that report daily. It hasn’t been input yet.”
“You have mercury now. Connect the dots.”
“If he believed that connected the dots, he wouldn’t have given it to her.”
“Connect the fucking dots.” I hang up and dial Abel.
“Hey hoe, what the fuck is up?”
“I don’t care whose house you have to go to, or what you have to do, but you get me those autopsy reports.”
“She knows.”
“Yes. She knows. Get me the reports.” I hang up.
My phone rings and it’s Chris Merit. “What the hell did you do, man?”
“It’s not what it seems and I’m not going to explain that to you. All I will say is that I love her. I love her the way you love Sara. I ordered her a ring. I bought an apartment to customize a studio for her.”
“Well, I’m not an advice kind of guy, and she’s not saying anything other than you betrayed her in an unforgivable way.”
“I didn’t cheat. I knew who she was before I met her and didn’t tell her. At the time I didn’t plan on fucking her, let alone falling in love with her. And that’s all I’m saying.”
“Fair enough. What’s your move?”