Page 91 of Seven
He made a sound. "Off the record?"
"Please?" I was surprised at myself for saying this. "Well, as much off the record as possible."With the Bureau spying on its employees at all hours of the day.
Viper was surprised too, apparently. He snorted. "You're not joking, are you?"
"I'm not. It's still part of the ongoing job, but I just don't want it to spread."
"Understood, boss."
I closed the line. My attention snapped back to the window. I had a hunch the man behind the glass was involved. I needed proof. And I was going to get it one way or another.
For Kimmy.
33 kimmy
Margaret and I sat side-by-side on her couch. The letter from the attorney was on the table between us, anchored by a mug of tea. I'd read it a million times, but I felt like every time I did it again, I found something new.
I wasn't very versed in legal jargon and had to Google half of its contents to understand what was written between the lines.
It'd been a few days since I called Seven about this matter, and I was starting to get worried that he wouldn't come through. My anxiety level was so high that I'd cancelled all my upcoming sessions with Dr. Chen.
When she'd asked me if I was okay, I'd told her I had a family situation to deal with.
"Forty-two thousand, plus legal and medical, plus punitive, to be determined by the court," Margaret re-read the paragraph. Her hands shook in her lap. "Forty-two thousand," she repeated. Her voice made a jump on the first syllable. "I can't pay that. They know I can't pay that. And for what? For a dent on a rear bumper?"
"They know, Mom," I agreed. "And I am sorry you have to deal with this."
She was silent, working the skin between her fingers. "I know I'm getting old. Maybe I don't drive as well as I used to. But it wasn't my fault. The other driver did it on purpose. He had no one in front of him."
"Mom, it totally wasn't."
I reached over and patted her knee, which felt brittle under my palm. "We'll get it sorted," I said. I tried to sound casual like this wasn't a big dealof a situation for me to fix, but my throat was tight. "I know someone who can help." I shouldn't have shared this little fact with
Margaret.
Her head came up. Her eyes were red but hopeful. "You do?"
"Yeah. She's a lawyer. Not fancy, but a bulldog. She'll tear this apart. I already sent her some of the documents to look at."
The lie came out so smoothly I almost didn't notice it. Seven was supposed to dig into this. That's all I knew. I expected he'd find something in the chain of fraud that would clear my mother. But I couldn't say any of that. Not to Margaret.
She exhaled, a long, trembling breath, and her shoulders dropped back into a natural position. "Oh, honey. Thank you. I just… I can't do this myself. I'm too tired. I don't want to bother Katrina too much. She's so busy with the new job, and Jazz got that thing with his back again…"
"I'll handle it. Tell her not to worry about it."
My sister was too smart. She'd already figured out Margaret was out of sorts last time they spoke on the phone. As always Margaret downplayed the accident when telling about it to my sister. I was glad. Involving Katrina could be bad. She'd start asking too many questions, and that would potentially put Seven in jeopardy. At least, that's how my mind worked at the moment. The logical part of my brain knew that he was too good to be found out. But I'd been in constant fear for him, terrified that something would happen. He was a human after all. Well, more like a superhuman, but still.
"She gets so stressed on those business trips," Margaret spoke, referring to Katrina's fear of flying. And for once that fear worked in my favor.
"That's exactly why you did the right thing, Mom. She'll be even more worried."
"All my girls are grown up now," Margaret said lovingly. "I feel bad for bothering you now that you have your own lives."
"Don't ever think like that," I countered. "We're going to take care of you always."I will take care of you, Mom. Always.
Margaret gently touched my hand. "You'd better go. It's getting late, and you've got work in the morning."
"I'll walk you to your room first," I said, and she didn't argue.
