Page 119 of Morally Corrupt

"We still have this." I wave the envelope that Marcel had managed to pass to me before the explosion. "Considering how many more there were inside, it's not much. But maybe it's something."

"Let's see." Adrian still doesn't look right, but the prospect of opening the envelope is too tempting. I'll make him get checked out later, I promise myself.

I open the envelope and dump its contents on the bed. It's a bunch of IDs: a passport, a driver's license, some subscription cards, an old Boston metro card, and a couple sheets of paper. I look at the IDs, and they all have the same name.

"Greg Sullivan," I say aloud, frowning at Martin's picture next to that name. "Weird."

While the guys are still perusing the cards, I grab the two sheets and skim them, quickly realizing they both contain high-profile individuals: senators, governors, business executives, etc. There are a few names on the list that are crossed out.

"Look!" I hand the papers to Adrian and Marcel, and they also peruse the names.

"This… do you think it's blackmail? Why else would all these people's names be in the same place? What do they have in common?"

"No… it can't be…" Adrian looks at the documents as if he'd seen a ghost. He quickly takes the passport with Greg Sullivan's name on it and puts them side by side.

"What?" I ask.

"The night my parents were killed, I overheard them talking to someone. They said they had a list of all the names involved with Jimenez, and they wanted to go public, but they were afraid for me. They ended up giving the files away as insurance."

"To whom?" I frown. How could he know they're the same files?

"To someone named Greg…" He raises his head and gives me an odd look. This just got a whole lot more complicated.

43

ADRIAN

"We need to do further testing. I'm sending you to get a scan. For now, I'm mostly worried about your ribs and your right hand." The doctor writes down the order for the x-ray before telling us he'll be back later on.

Bianca had insisted on an ER visit when she'd seen me wincing a few times when moving, even though I'd said I was okay. Sure, there was some tenderness around my chest, but I've suffered worse in the past.

I'm now sitting on the hospital bed, pulling my shirt back on and avoiding Bianca's gaze.

"I don't think it'sjustyour ribs and your right hand. What about your upper back? You smashed directly into the wall with your back." She shakes her head.

"I'm sure the doctor knows what he's doing."

"No," she starts adamantly. "I can't have you broken. What if he misses something?"

"Bianca, calm down."

She'd nagged me all the way to the hospital and almost bullied the hospital staff into looking at me as soon as possible. By the way she was speaking, you'd think I was bleeding out. In fact, when we'd come through the emergency entrance, she'd immediately gone to the reception, and straight-faced she'd said, "My husband is broken. I need you to fix him.Now!" For a moment, I thought she'd pull a gun on them.

I tried to calm her down, but she'd been belligerent until a doctor had seen me.

I may have been annoyed at this type of behavior under any other circumstances, but coming from Bianca, it was a little too endearing to get mad at. Especially since Iactuallybelieve her concern is genuine.

It had all happened so fast. Marcel was taking out the contents of the safe; the next, I noticed a countdown on its display. When I'd realized the imminent danger, my only thought had been to get Bianca as far away from the explosion as possible. I'd only managed to grab her and make for the floor when we'd both been flung to the other end of the room.

And then there had been the shock of finding the envelope with the list of names. I hadn't quite registered the pain as I'd been too caught up remembering that long-ago conversation my parents had had with Greg.

"Marcel is compiling information on every name on that list," Bianca relays this as she gets off the phone with Marcel. He'd refused to get a check-up, saying he was completely fine.

"I'm still not sure how he managed to avoid that blast altogether," she adds, and I have to agree. I didn't see exactly what happened with him, but it's impressive that he's wholly unharmed.

A nurse comes by, and she tells me to follow her to get the scan. Bianca starts behind us too, but the nurse shakes her head.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but you must wait here." Bianca's eyes widen a little in disbelief, and I can almost tell she won't accept this.

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