Page 78 of The Exit Strategy

“What am I doing?”

“You’re pushing Devin at me so you don’t have to talk about anything else. This is your chosen method of rebuilding walls.”

“This is me telling you as a professional that your entire business is fucked if you don’t do something about it now.” My voice has risen with each word, and my chest flares with the effort.

“If you or I report this now, the only name on those documents will be mine.”

I suck in a breath and deflate in my seat. He doesn’t know I believe he’s innocent. I see the shame, the hurt—it’s all there in his eyes. We’ve never been able to communicate, so why would his financial ruin be any different?

“There are…things tied to me.” Each word rumbles through his chest as though it’s slicing through the very heart of him. “Conditions that… People count on me, Junie. If I’m charged with Devin’s crimes, the house of cards I’ve beensingle-handedly holding together will crumble for more people than you realize?—”

“Cole…”

“I’ll go down with the ship if I have to, Junie. But I’m really hoping for a save here, and you’re the only person I trust to make that happen. So until you tell me we’re out of options, I’ll keep deflecting and holding off audits while sending up prayers to the Junieverse that I’m not truly and completely fucked here. I can’t take the fall for Devin’s crimes. I need the proof I can’t seem to find. That’s why I’ve been holding you off—why I haven’t gone after Devin on my own. I need proof of my innocence.”

“But…Cole.” I have the sudden, uncomfortable realization that I’m not the only one barely holding shit together. And he’s not the only one who messed up. “I found the forged signatures. I know they don’t match yours. Have you been—did you think—Cole, I know you’d never do this.”

The muscles in Cole’s arms coil tighter and tighter, until I can see every vein in his forearms.

His Adam’s apple bobs three times while his jaw works back and forth. “Y-you found proof?”

I nod.

“Is it enough? Does it prove my?—”

His innocence.

Oh God, Cole. This entire time I’ve thought he’s been withholding information to protect Devin. It was never about Devin.

“I don’t know.” The pressure he’s obviously been under is crushing—I feel it now as if it’s my burden too.

“I need you toknow, Junie.”

“Okay.” My mind creates its own spreadsheets with next steps already being calculated. “I’ll prove the signaturesdon’t match. I read about an expert in college. You can trust me.”

Relief has never looked so wrecked as it does across Cole’s face now. It makes me even more determined than ever to solve this problem for him.

And whatever else it’s tied to.

Nolan landedat Logan an hour ago, and I’ve been glaring at my phone ever since.

Somehow knowing my big brother is in the same time zone as me calms my mind but makes my heart shudder unpredictably.

My phone rings, flashing Nolan’s name on FaceTime—I knew it would. I debate sending him to voicemail for half a second but know it’ll cause more problems than it’s worth.

I just wish I wasn’t feeling so off-kilter about Cole when I answer.

“You look terrible,” Nolan says by way of greeting just as Fen presses his face in close so he can be seen on the screen.

I roll my eyes. “Flattery.”

His gaze softens. “How bad is it?”

I don’t know if he’s talking to me or to Fenway, but I answer anyway. “Thirty-eighth in the state for most humiliating viral moments. I’d been pushing for the top twenty, but the algorithm isn’t cooperating.”

He stares at me like a doctor used to diagnosing shit and not a concerned brother.

“Cole’s not here right now,” I say, wondering if that’s what he’s waiting for.