Page 35 of Hidden Truths

“Have you guys watched the latest episode?” Jo asks, making me jump. Willa narrows her eyes, definitely noticing there was only one person in this room that didn’t startle me by suddenly appearing behind me.

It’s because he lives here.

That’s definitely the reason.

“The date he took her on was —”

“Shh! No spoilers!” Cal screams, covering his ears and singing so he can’t hear her.

Everyone laughs in athat’s classic Cal for youway, and I hate it. I’m all for silly moments to break the tension, but that’s not the looks he’s getting. He can see it in my face and shakes his head, asking me to keep my thoughts to myself. I press my lips together and nod.

Only because today is about protecting Cora and figuring out Senator Wolfe’s goal with all this. We’re running with the assumption he needs Maverick, but it’s not a good idea to put all our eggs in that basket.

But once this is all over, I am not keeping quiet. These people are his family and as much as they love him, I don’t think they even know him.

“The initial response is positive overall. Your fanbase was relatively unsurprised you have a child,” Jo says, looking over analytics on her iPad.

“Really? Because it shocked the shit out of me,” Cal says, making everyone laugh. I smile at the joke, but I’m watching Jo’seyebrows slowly draw closer and closer together. She’s seeing something she doesn’t like.

“What was the crowd at the gate like?” Kai asks my dad.

“As we expected, but the police are there keeping them in check,” my dad answers. “And we’re sure we’re not worried about your neighbors selling pictures?”

“No. You don’t live in gated communities unless you want to keep people away from you. There’s no way they want reporters in here,” Kai answers.

My dad nods in agreement, and I know that’s because he already ran background checks on everyone that lives here.

“Where are we on connecting my dad to Ezra?” Mav asks.

My dad stills and looks at me. I tilt my head in confusion, waiting for whatever he has to say.

“I think I have a way to get Ezra’s cell. From what my contact tells me, it’s still in evidence. I’m working out a way for it to go ‘missing.’”

“Dad!” I blurt, shocked. My dad has always been very strict about doing things by the book, so any case he helped with couldn’t be thrown out.

“I know, Harlow. But it’s becoming clearer the more I search and find absolutely nothing, that there is something to hide. The fact that the phone even still exists means someone forgot about it. Right now, it’s the only lead we have.”

“And you think there will be something on there to incriminate my dad?” Maverick asks.

My dad shakes his head. “Right now, I’m treating these as two separate cases. I’m hoping the phone will give us a lead on either where he went or why he ran. As for your dad,” he looks at Maverick in a way that tells me he’s trying to choose his words carefully. “Is there a way you could meet with your mom without alerting your dad? Maybe ask her some questions?”

Mav sighs, leaning back into the couch, his head tilted to the ceiling. “She asks me to meet her for lunch all the time. At least she did when I still lived in Maine. I’m sure I could arrange that.” He sits forward and looks at my dad. “I have to be honest, though. She’s become more of an accessory for my dad than anything. I doubt she knows much.”

“You’d be surprised. Those are the people who usually know the most.” All eyes swing my way. “What?”

“She watches a lot of true crime,” Jo mutters, still glaring at her iPad as she scrolls furiously through something.

“You’re one to talk,” I scoff.

“Wait. So all this time we could’ve been watching murder documentaries and instead you have me waiting to see if the deaf man and the blind lady can figure out how to communicate and fall in love?” Cal asks, an affronted look on his face.

“Stop acting like you don’t text me after every episode to talk about it,” Mav says.

“Bro! That was our secret!” Cal complains.

He’s playing it up again, but his hands are in fists in his lap like he’s barely holding it together. And yet again, no one else notices. He catches me watching him and gives me a forced smile. I don’t return it. The slightest shake of his head lets me know he doesn’t want me saying anything right now.

“How did you not know? The girls want to start a podcast. That’s their career goal.”

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