Page 25 of The Lies We Believe

“River, please.” Bane looked at me, using the full force of the magnetism that surrounded him like some kind of manipulative mind control.

I SAID NO!

He held up his hands in surrender. “I won’t force you to do anything, okay?” I nodded but couldn’t meet his eyes. Please, please force me. Don’t let me go. “I’m here for you, however you need me to be. Always.”

I scoffed and shook my head. He didn’t know what he was promising. As beautiful as it sounded and as much as I wanted to, it could never come to fruition. I wouldn’t allow it.

I know.

“James should be nearly finished. Would you like a coffee?” I blinked up at him once. “Or what about a hot cocoa with marshmallows? Then we can chill and watch a movie or something downstairs?”

A shout from downstairs saved me from answering. “Uh, Mr. Benson, I think I’m all done here. I just need to make sure everything is all linked to your phone.”

Bane looked at me and sighed, scrubbing his hand over his face. “I’ll see to this, then you can join me downstairs when they’re gone. There’s something I need you to look at as part of the case.” With that, Bane pushed up off the bed and closed the door behind him, not sparing me a second glance.

He wanted to talk to me about the case. Now that, I could do. It would be the perfect distraction and give me time to remember who I was before Bane came back into my life, so leaving wouldn’t be so hard. Hurting him would be a fatal wound I’d never be able to heal from.

CHAPTER 11

BANE

“Ah, Mr. Benson?”

I couldn’t contain my snort even if I wanted to. “James, it’s just Benson,” I said as I shook his hand. “How’d it go?” I gestured for him to follow me outside so we could discuss the details without River overhearing. I didn’t want to spook him any more than his encounter with James and Davis had already. That’s the only thing I could assume had triggered his earlier episode, and I didn’t want him to feel unsafe in my house.

“Great, mister, umm, Benson,” James stammered as he followed me out the front door that snicked shut behind us. “I’ve installed new cameras to replace the old ones and fitted a new motherboard to the control panel.” He opened the back doors of his van and sat down on the bed, patting the space next to him.

I looked at it and cringed. “Not sure we’ll both fit,” I said as diplomatically as I could.

James looked up at me over the laptop he’d pulled out of somewhere, then up and up a bit more. “Ah, you might be right.” He chuckled nervously. “You’re, um, quite the big guy, aren’t you?”

“Sure.” I braced myself against the side of the van so I could see the screen James angled toward me and observed him as he ran a diagnostics program.

“Phone, please.” He held out his hand without even looking at me. When I didn’t move, he lifted his gaze to mine. “I won’t do anything besides make sure the software has mapped across properly, so you’ll be able to operate the system remotely. You’ll also have individual control over each camera and sensor I’ve installed around the perimeter.”

I held my phone up, making him frown. “This is my personal cell. I want to make sure it’s the only one that will have access to the system unless I decide to add another to it. Do you understand me?”

James’s lashes fluttered as he processed what I said, and he shrank back into himself. “I…yes, sir. Totally. My system isn’t, or should I say won’t be, connected to it once I’ve uploaded everything to your phone. And if you want to add another, then call me and I’ll make sure there are no issues.” He pulled a business card out of a silver tin and flourished it in front of me.

“Good.” I placed my phone in his hand, having already pulled up the app for my previous installation. He shook his head, a rueful smile lifting his lips.

“You won’t b-be needing that anymore. It’s a completely new operating system, one I’ve been working on for a while, so you’re kind of like a test dummy.” His nervous chuckle set me on edge, making my lip curl back.

“You mean to say?—”

“Maybe I didn’t choose my words correctly. It’s a system I designed myself that will go into production next year. I just meant you’re the first person who gets to use it.”

I dug the heel of my palm into my dry eyes and eventually nodded in agreement. I guess I should have felt lucky to get a brand new system, but something’s felt off today. It had startedsince I left the house this morning. I had that feeling in my gut that I knew I shouldn’t ignore, but I just couldn’t pinpoint what had triggered it. River’s panic attack, while disturbing in its ferocity, wasn’t that surprising given the nightmares he’d been having on top of the upheaval and the complete one-eighty his life had taken. But that just felt like the tip of the iceberg heading straight toward me.

I loosed a breath and shook out my hands before folding my arms over my chest as I watched him connect my phone to his laptop. He uninstalled the old app and installed the new one that linked to the cameras, sensors, and video doorbell system he had just installed.

My front door opened and closed, and uneven footsteps headed in our direction. A raspy cough heralded Davis’s arrival, the stench of cigarette smoke as putrid as the man himself. His beady dark eyes looked up at me, and a sneer curled his lips. “Is everything done? I’ve got far more important things to be doing today.”

“Almost, Mr. Davis, sir. I’m just?—”

“I don’t really care, James,” Davis said flatly. “I need to get back to the station. Just send me a full report when you’re done here.”

“I…um. Yes, sir.”

---