Page 72 of Fire Peak

“Maybe. Probably,” he admitted. “But I was out of it by then. That wasn’t my call.”

“You gave them the idea.”

“It’s quite likely that what I said gave them the idea. That’s one of the reasons I wanted time to fix it. Which I did.”

She scanned his face, probably searching for any sign that he was lying. “That’s it?”

“That’s it.”

But it wasn’t entirely it, and that must have shown on his face. “How did you get them to back off, then? Your twenty-four-hour trick, what was it? I know you told them you wouldn’t tell me. But I need to know, Nick.”

Goddamn, she wasn’t going to let that slide.

Then again, why had he thought she would? This was her life. Her father.

Sorry, Mark Jones.

“After I left Firelight Ridge last time, I did some digging. Their file had left out the part about your dad working for Hobbs, and that didn’t sit right. I’ve done a lot of work for Hobbs over the years, and I know their executives. I know all the skeletons in their closets. The man who testified against your father, Stefan Volcker, he’s the CEO of another division now. I looked at his testimony and found some obvious lies that only someone like me would know about. I told Mark Jones that I’d do something with that information if he didn’t lay off you and your father. ”

Her face went more and more pale as he spoke. When he was done, it filled with bright color instead.

“You can clear my father? Is that what you’re saying?”

“Very likely, though no guarantees. Stefan was the principal witness against your father. If his testimony was thrown out, who knows.”

“And you didn’t tell me?”

“That was part of the deal. They want to keep all that buried. They have evidence against you from when you hacked into their system. I made the call that keeping you and your dad free and safe was more important.”

Her mouth fell open, then snapped shut again. “That should have been my call.”

“You’re right.” He threw up his hands to show he wasn’t arguing. “But I had to act in the moment. Your father already served his time. He’s out. But you could get charged if they reported you. So that’s the call I made.”

Charlie swung away from him and strode toward the hardware store. He hurried after her. “I’m sorry. I was trying to do my best for everyone.”

“I can’t talk anymore right now.” Then she stopped and wheeled on him. “My whole life, I wanted to clear my father’s name. You have the evidence and didn’t tell me?”

“Charlie…” he tried, but she spun on her heel and kept on going down the road.

“Not now,” she said tightly. “I have to think about this. I’m furious, but also, I don’t know, grateful…shit. We have work to do, so let’s go.”

Damn, damn, damn. He walked beside her, both of them silent the rest of the way. He should have known this would bite him in the ass. But he was used to taking care of business and moving on. Secrets, confidentiality, that was his domain.

Had he ruined things with Charlie for good?

32

Charlie couldn’t let herself think about Nick’s revelation. He had information about her father and he hadn’t shared it with her? He’d dug it up after he left Firelight Ridge the last time, an entire month ago. All this time, during all their conversations about her father, he hadn’t mentioned it. It felt like a betrayal.

And yet—he’d used that information at the perfect moment for maximum benefit to her and her father.

Crap, it was just too confusing for her to handle right now. She shoved it all to the back of her mind to deal with later.

Hardware store. Focus on that. Now that she knew Bulldog and April had lived there, she wanted to see that folder again and sort through those papers.

They found Lila just waking up, wrapped in a fuzzy purple bathrobe and knee-high socks. The smell of coffee brewing mingled with the aroma of aged barrels that always clung to the hardware store.

The sight of her friend made the world feel familiar again. Lila stood on tiptoe to hug Charlie. Ani was nowhere to be seen; she must be out with Molly.

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