Page 92 of Into the Light

“Oh, uh, yeah.”

I needed to excuse myself, to process the grief I was feeling, the pain I kept hearing in her voice, but the reason Walsh kept this to himself, I understood. It was all part of a bigger plan that Ash orchestrated. If he’d asked me to keep a secret before he died, I would’ve gone to my grave with it, too . . . especially if it was for Ember’s protection. What Walsh had to see, experience, and do this last year had to have given him as much heartbreak as I had to endure, just in a different way.

“These are bank statements,” I began, spreading the papers before them. “Mr. Ortiz has been embezzling funds from the Cartel. There are also photos of him being unfaithful to my mom.” I set aside another stack of documents. “These contain confidential Cartel information, like transcripts from the strip club.”

“Holy shit,” Walsh exclaimed, his jaw dropped. “This is really bad.” He was thumbing through the transcripts from the club. They all described Mr. Ortiz as discussing confidential Cartel information at the club in front of the strippers. There was also a recording device on a USB with the actual transcripts, according to the note next to it.

“Good,” I replied firmly.

“This will enable Pico to assume control swiftly,” Walsh said.

“Yeah, right after graduation,” I added.

“Pico?” Ember inquired.

“Yeah, mi pareja,” I confirmed. “Remember I told you I thought he’d be—”

“Oh, right. I think he’d make the best leader,” she said.

“I agree,” I responded, giving her a warm smile. Her desire to be involved and included warmed my heart amid this otherwise somber day.

“What’s our next move?” Walsh asked.

“I’ll go back and speak with Pico, but we need to gather everyone together,” I explained.

“Isles is the best place for the meeting, right? Doesn’t the neutral territory extend to the elders, too?” Ember asked. I leaned in close to Ember’s ear, feeling immensely proud of her.

“There you are,” I whispered before pressing a kiss onto the shell of her ear.

“That’s correct,” Walsh replied on my behalf. “However, there’s no way Dad will come down here for a sit-down with Mr. Ortiz without insisting on security, armed guards, and everything that could sabotage the meeting.”

“You have a point,” I admitted.

“What if we tell Dad to meet us at the diner? We can say that we’ve finally reconciled and want to talk to him about it. He’ll probably come with just his bodyguard if he knows it’s only us,” Walsh suggested.

“I can inform Mr. Ortiz that we need to discuss what happened with Ash. I’ve pieced it all together now. He’ll want to know about the missing money,” I added.

“What money?” Walsh asked.

“Ash had a will that was done by a lawyer. It gives his entire trust to Ember. The whole reason Mr. Ortiz is so fucking hell bent on figuring out or thinking it was you at the woods that day was because he wants that money.”

“I wonder if he knows someone is onto him, which is why he needs the trust to replenish the Cartel funds,” Ember added, and Walsh and I turned toward her.

“Holy—” I was shocked.

“Shit.” Walsh finished.

“Ember, that is it.” I gave her a huge kiss on her lips before practically leaping off the chair and walking over to Walsh. I paused in front of him before I grabbed him and gave him a hug.

“He is using the trust to replenish the funds,” Walsh repeated.

“In the meeting, we are going to fuck him by not outing him to the Cartel. As much as I’d like to see the fucker dead, I don’t know if that’s the best endgame right now. We will just use our evidence as blackmail and to get Pico to the top spot right after graduation this summer.”

“Then we use the information to make sure Ember gets to keep her portion from the will.”

“Yes.”

“Okay. I’ll have him come in tomorrow.”

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