Page 16 of Fallout

“I’ll go talk to Rammington,” Jasper said. “Find out what this is about.”

“I’ll go with you. After all, with your personal connection to the family, internal affairs could argue you’re compromised when it comes to things like this.” She motioned at the slur that had been sprayed on the wall. “And I’d like to see how he reacts to a woman.”

There was a lot there they could unpack. Jasper might not care about people’s opinions, but she had some loaded ideas about how he was perceived. “You think I got into this job because it makes me look good?”

She stopped at the door. “No, I don’t suppose you did. Though, mostly I figure it was to tick off your old man.”

Jasper said, “He wasn’t the one whose attention I wanted.”

SEVEN

“I’m sure it won’t be long, Mr. Rammington.” Destiny wasn’t going to squeeze his arm, or his hand, but she smiled politely at Brent across the tiny table in the C-suite break room—which looked like a fancy airport lounge.

He took a sip of the coffee she’d made. People outside the room milled around, but she’d slid the glass door closed to cut down on the noise.

Her phone buzzed on the table, and she looked at the message.

That was fun.

Destiny tapped a reply.

You guys leaving?

The response was,

When you do.

Which meant they planned to escort her back to the Vanguard building. Her permanent detail of bodyguards evidently planned to stay and “help” until they were called out on a mission. They couldn’t take a hiatus forever, but they’d been in Benson since she got out of the hospital and recovered enough to start making trips out of the house. First, just to the grocery store. Then, to see her sisters at their aunt’s birthday party. She’d been to see Blake, who seemed to be permanently at Lettie’s Granny’s house with her when he wasn’t working.

Seeing them together and so happy…she loved it as much as it hurt to watch. She would never have that for herself. It was time to grieve and move on.

Focusing on work was a decent distraction, and there was plenty at Vanguard to keep her attention.

She looked over at the window and saw the senator. He slid the door open enough that he could say, “Jasper was looking for you, Brent.” He glanced between them. “I’ll let him know where to find you.”

When Brent said nothing, Destiny offered, “Thank you.”

Clare had remained upstairs in the ballroom. Gage was on his way to pick her up, and she’d be going home. Vanguard was passing this case to the police. It was just that the way they’d done it didn’t sit quite right with Destiny.

Brent set his cup down, and it clinked against the saucer. “If it had to be someone, having it be Jasper is for the best.”

“He’ll be working the case with his partner, but Clare’s assessment was correct. He cares for your reputation. He’ll work to keep things quiet.”

Brent cleared his throat. “Or he’ll believe the accusation and take no steps to stop it from being smeared in the public arena.”

Destiny would wait to see what Jasper did. Vanguard had reviewed all the evidence and was confident Brent Rammington had been set up.

“As long as my wife doesn’t discover the video. Though, she doesn’t watch the news, so I suppose she’ll be unlikely to find out before I get the chance to explain that it’s not what everyone is going to think.”

Vanguard had worked hard to get to the truth. Brent had been set up, duped far enough that whoever was blackmailing him hadn’t had to fabricate much. Just enough to convince anyone inclined to believe it that he’d had an encounter with an escort. The fact he’d comprehended what was happening and left wasn’t going to fit the narrative.

“It won’t take him long to find the paper.” The Famous Ones had jumped to take the case and hand the police the evidence that Brent had made a blackmail payoff to the kingpin who’d been terrorizing Benson the last few months. Things might seem as though they’ve calmed down recently, but Vanguard saw what was happening below the surface.

The kingpin wanted all the power players in Benson under his thumb. Not just criminals, but legitimate business leaders also.

How far would this man go? Would he come after the mayor, the police commissioner, and Jasper’s father as well? Securing that much power would make it even more difficult to take him down.

However, that also happened to be above her pay grade and, generally, not her job. They’d all told her that recovering was her job. And taking care of Clare.

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