Page 94 of Unbound

Since she’s completely engrossed in what she’s doing, I decide to get shit together so we can leave for the office. I know it will piss her off that she has to stop so we can drive, but there’s no way around it. Since the last person who was supposed to help me run the warehouse didn’t work out, I need to be there most of the time.

I’ve just put on my boots and brought in Sybil’s sneakers when she gasps, eyes fused to the screen, mouth slack.

“What’s wrong?” I lean down to look over the display. “That’s the list of men Heidi found who were associated with both the guy who caused the explosion and the one who hit Toby and me.” I hate to disappoint her again, but I have to. “Titus and his team scoured that list and came up with nothing. We don’t know any of them except William Sheppard.”

Who is now six feet under. And none of us even knew Ruth when this all started, so her ex couldn’t have been responsible for the first two incidents.

“You might not.” Sybil’s blue eyes leave the screen to meet mine. “But I do.”

30

Sybil

Istare at the face of a man I’ve known my whole life, staring into his eyes for the millionth time since yesterday, when Heidi sent me everything she had about the incidents that have happened at or around McKinley. He’s a man I called Uncle Tom. A man who’s told me countless stories about my dad in the years since he died, helping me keep his memory alive.

A man who’s apparently also in the habit of hiring hit men.

For two years, I’ve worked so hard to find something that will lead me in the right direction. Anything that might push me toward the light at the end of the tunnel.

But maybe I don’t want to go to the light. Maybe I want to stay stuck in limbo. At least here I’m not questioning everything I think I know about people I care about.

I lean back in the chair behind Walker’s desk in his office at McKinley, letting my head fall to the rest as I close my eyes. “What the fuck, Tom?”

He and my dad had been friends since college. Stayed close even though they lived hours apart. Tom’s who got my dad into politics and decided one day they could both be senators. Tom managed to achieve the goal before my dad did, and then campaigned to help get my dad elected.

A prospect my father was thrilled about.

He wanted to make the world better. Help people who needed it and get rid of the greed and manipulation that runs rampant through our government. Together, he and Tom could make a difference.

But it never happened. My father was killed before he could show everyone else how amazing of a man he really was.

And now I’m staring at an image of his best friend and wondering if my father had any clue what sort of shit Tom was doing. I sure fucking hope not, because he would have been heartbroken.

For the first time, I’m a little glad my dad is gone and won’t see everything I’m digging up on his friend. The hidden bank accounts. The debts. The mistresses and the alcoholism. There’s a plethora of reasons for him to need someone willing to do sketchy shit for money, and I plan to find every one of them.

Because fuck him. Fuck him for deceiving my dad and fuck him for deceiving my mom. Fuck him for deceiving me.

I reach for my mouse, ready to unravel years of lies and deceit, but stop when I hear loud voices coming from the warehouse floor.

No one is supposed to know I’m here, but whatever’s happening out there doesn’t sound good, so I hurry to the front entrance of Walker’s office and crack the door so I can peek through the gap.

What I see sends my stomach dropping to my feet.

One of the forklift operators—a guy who was chummy with Caleb—is up in Walker’s face, screaming at the top of his lungs about his friend getting fired. Walker’s bigger than the guy by almost a foot and probably has a good fifty pounds on him, so if it was only that dude looking at Walker with violence in his eyes, I wouldn’t be too worried.

But there’s a second man. One who’s as sketchy as Caleb. I didn’t know they were friends, but I’m not surprised. Birds of a feather and all. I’m pretty sure they are friends though, because while the yelling guy is distracting Walker, this other guy’s creeping out of Walker’s line of sight, one hand held suspiciously close at his side.

In a split second, my brain decides what to do, and I just start moving. Time seems to slow down as I grab the items I need, fling open the door, and race out onto the floor in my socked feet, aiming for the danger Walker can’t see.

Walker’s not the only one who doesn’t see someone coming. The prick at his back is so focused on Walker, I’m on top of him before he even glances my way. And when he does, I throw the entire coffee I brewed less than two minutes ago straight into his open eyeballs.

There’s a beat where shock has him frozen in place, but then he drops what he’s holding, bringing both hands to his scalded face.

That’s when I kick him in the nuts.

He crumples to the ground, making the sort of sounds I will later find hilarious. I really hope the security cameras in here have sound, because his agonized cries are something I would love to hear when I’m not freaking the fuck out.

Only I’m not really freaking out. I’m surprisingly calm as I pick up the box cutter he was going to use to stab the man I’m probably gonna fall in love with.