Page 44 of Mountain Security

No.

She refused to accept it.

It couldn’t be anyone from her team.

She looked at the kitchenette area, where Celine was quickly updating the others on her adventures from that morning.

It’s not one of them.

Yvette dragged Alex into one of the conference rooms. Even in her current, distracted state, she couldn’t help but notice the lean strength in those arms. She’d felt his strength last night—wanted nothing but to feel it again.

Focus, Yvette.

“It’s not one of them,” she hissed. “Iknowit’s not.”

These people were as much her family as her mother and sister. With the number of hours per week they all worked, sometimes she felt she knew them better than her own family. She thought of all the late-night dinners they’d shared together, of the successes and failures they’d lived through. Politics wasn’t easy. To find a team who worked together as seamlessly as they all did …

“I’m sorry, Yvette,” he said. “I understand you may not want to believe it, but, looking at it objectively, it’s the—“

She shook her head. “I know it is. And I understand why you reached that conclusion, Alex. But it’s impossible. It’s absolutely impossible. Just like I knowIdidn’t do it, nothing will get me to believe one of them could have done it.”

Alex’s lips curled up in a small, rueful smile.

“What are you smiling about?”

“Just … you’re such a mother hen to your people.”

“I am not,” she complained.

“So loyal to your team and your people, I mean.” He raised his hands. “It’s a good thing, Yvette. A compliment, alright?”

She cocked her head sideways. He seemed serious.

“What about Pierre?” Alex asked.

“What about him?” Yvette asked cautiously. Pierre had been surprisingly quiet the last few days. She had the feeling something about the upcoming campaign was bothering him. But just months earlier, when they’d sat down to plan for it, he’d been so excited about it … it didn’t make any sense.

“How do you know it’s not him?” Alex asked patiently. “He wouldn’t be the first politician—“

No, he wouldn’t.

Her sector had seen more than its share of corruption.

She couldn’t stand for corruption.

Don’t those people realize how much damage they do to the institutions they worked for?

“He’s not corrupt. Pierre is one of the most honorable men I know. He’s a good man. He hired me after listening to a speech I gave at university about the ways in which local governments could work to reduce social inequality among young people. I had no idea what I was doing, or the way anything worked. Ninety percent of my ideas were useless, and the remaining ten percent were hard to implement. But he gave me a chance. He believed in me, and I believe in the great things he still has left to do.”

Alex stared at her, open-mouthed. “Okay,” he finally said.

“Okay? Just like that?”

He nodded. “Okay. If you trust the mayor that much, I trust him, too.”

Such simple words, but she recognized them for what they were. A symbol of Alex’s trust in her. And just like she didn’t trust easily, she also didn’t expect people to trust her. But that’s exactly the gift that Alex was giving her.

“Is that why you went into politics?” Alex asked.

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