Page 44 of Perfect Sin

“Step back, Ford.”

Holbrook puts his hand on Sin’s shoulder, and he stiffens. “I promise he’ll get what’s coming to him.”

The muscle in Sin’s jaw tightens as he clenches his teeth. “You can’t promise that. My father got him off before, what’s to stop him from doing it again?”

“I’ve got him on abduction and coercion to start. This time his charges will be federal, and I will not bend to the whims of a governor. Besides, this is an election year, and I doubt he wants to be seen intervening on behalf of an accused rapist given how close the polls are running against Blackthorne,” Holbrook explains.

He motions another agent forward. “I can’t be seen to be granting you special favors. You’ve met Agent Marks. He’ll take your statement and see you home.”

Sin and I follow Marks up the stairs. Medical professionals are assisting the men who are starting to come around. The house is in much worse shape than when we entered it. In their haste to flee the partygoers dropped their cups filled with beer and sticky mixed drinks all over. I don’t envy Jesse’s roommates and the clean up, assuming they would be comfortable staying in the same house someone died in.

Marks continues through the house and out to the SUV parked on the front lawn. He opens the door to the backseat and waits for us to climb in. Lucien, Ford, and Shane are close behind us.

“Meet us back at the house. I’ll need to take everyone’s statement, but there’s no rule that says we have to do it here. Holbrook will ride with the other agents to book Jesse Wilson,” Marks states and takes his keys from his jacket.

Once we are buckled in, he pulls away from the house. He looks at us in the rear view mirror. “I’m going to have to ask you some tough questions. I want you to prepare yourself for that. But not for a moment do I think you didn’t do exactly what you had to do. Remember that.”

No matter what questions he asks when we get to the house, I’ll endure it. Nothing will ever come close to the pain I’ve already survived.

13

Concessions

Sin

Marks’s idea totake us home before questioning us is smart. The more Raven relays what happened in the basement in the short time we were apart, the more I want to go back and plant my own knife in Jesse Wilson. He goes through the questions several times before he is satisfied with our answers.

He shoves his notepad into his satchel. “Try and get some rest. I’m sure Holbrook will need something from you in the morning. As usual, there will be extra patrols through the neighborhood, and we’re adding another detail to remain parked watching the house.”

Lucien takes a gun from his waistband and sets it on the counter. “You know we can take care of ourselves.”

An exhausted look comes over his face. “I’m going to pretend I didn’t see that, because I’m fairly certain you didn’t obtain it legally. It’s been a long night, and the five of you cause too much paperwork.”

I follow him to the door and flip the locks behind him. Everyone takes a seat in the living room, ready to do our own breakdown of the night’s events. Lucien sets my laptop down on the coffee table. “I don’t suppose we need this now.”

“Nah, I still want the video erased everywhere. If Jesse gets out, and I don’t care what Holbrook says, the guy is a slippery fucker, I don’t want him to have access to it,” I reply.

Lucien pushes the computer toward me. “You do it. Now that I know how much better you are at this than I am, there’s no point in pretending you can’t get it done faster.”

Flipping open the laptop I issue the commands I set up to seek out the video and delete it everywhere it appears. The cloud servers are easy to hack into, and I doubt Kyle will care anymore if he loses the files. “Are you sure you got all of the copies not stored on the internet?” I ask Lucien.

He pulls several flash drives out of his pocket. “I probably have all of Jesse’s term papers as well, but I got everything he could have stored it on. I sent an email to Kyle from Jesse’s computer, which the dumbass left signed on. I included the worm you designed. As soon as someone logs in and checks his email, everything will be wiped out.”

“They aren’t who you really want to be talking about, though. It’s getting late, so let’s move on to the next target,” Ford interjects.

I take the seat next to Raven and pull her onto my lap. There are important things to discuss, but for just a moment I need to remind myself she’s still here. I’m still here. This time we weren’t separated. I’ll never tolerate being pulled away from her again.

Pulling in a deep breath, I prop my chin on Raven’s shoulder. “There aren’t any good choices here. If we don’t respond, Arthur will try again. But, if we do, we might just hand the governorship to Damien.”

“Fuck, I hadn’t thought about that,” Lucien curses.

Raven is quiet. Letting all of us plot and scheme without sharing her thoughts. She usually has something to contribute. I gently shake her. “Are you shutting down on me?”

She holds my arms tighter around her middle. “I killed him,” she whispers.

Stabbing me in the heart wouldn’t have hurt as bad as knowing the guilt she is suffering. “I know, princess. I’m sorry you had to do that, but I’m glad you’re safe.”

Raven turns in my arms so she’s facing me. “That’s just it. I’m not sorry I killed him. I feel like I should be sorry, but I’m happy he’s dead. What does that say about me?”

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