Page 72 of Zen's Crash

“I get it. You’re saying it was a typical no-win situation. Now that we have the real story, I can remember times when my dad came home looking really upset. He and my mother would hole up in their room whispering. I never knew what they were talking about, but their whispers sounded panicked. I guess we know why now.”

“I think your dad did the best he could under some very difficult circumstances.”

“I think he didn’t share the money because he knew his brother would just use it to go after more people. It would have fueled his already out-of-control behavior.”

“Well, Harris and his son are both behind bars. I don’t think the judicial system will ever let them out, not with the evidence we handed over.”

“I know your next order of business is finding your sister’s missing cryptocurrency. Do you have any leads on that?”

“Hell no, and it’s driving me crazy. I want to finish up with your case first.”

“Really? What’s left to do?”

“I want to get into Terrance’s laptop. There could be more critical evidence there. I keep thinking weird thoughts, like what if he abducted his first victim and has her locked up somewhere.”

Her eyebrows shoot up. “I wouldn’t put anything past him at this point. Shouldn’t we be doing that instead of shopping for rings and eating out at fancy restaurants?”

“I had a go at it earlier today. I threw everything I had at it and ended up linking it to an encryption program I developed. It’ll keep trying relentlessly to crack his password. I’ll get a notification on my phone when it cracks.”

“Yeah, it’s a shame it’s not as easy as getting the info from his floppy disks and CDs. But I guess as his hacking skills improved so did his digital security awareness.”

“It takes a hacker to catch a hacker, so I’m confident I’ll break the encryption.”

“Talking of hackers, I hope you get your sister’s money back.”

“Me too,” I tell her sincerely.

“Do you still think it might be someone who frequents the chatrooms I use?” Lexi asks.

“That’s the most likely explanation,” I say. I’ve been going through the regulars one by one. It’s not a quick job as most of the people who use the chatrooms are shit hot on security. But like Terrance’s laptop, I’m confident I’ll get there in the end.

We sit in silence for a few moments.

Finally, after putting down my wine glass, I lean over the table and say, “Lexi, I want to ask you something.”

“No, you can’t have your ring back,” she jokes.

“I need to ask the question, and you need to answer it truthfully or I’m never going to be able to settle my nerves. Will you marry me?”

She grins mischievously. “Of course I’ll marry you! And you didn’t need to bring me to a fancy restaurant to ask the question.”

I relax back into my seat. “So what kind of timeline were you thinking for the engagement?”

She shrugs and takes another sip of her wine. “I don’t mind. I just want us to live together.”

A knot of tightness loosens in my chest. “That’s what I want too. Maybe a long engagement would be in order—so you can get through treatment for your trauma and make sure you really want me.”

A mildly surprised expression crosses her face. “Where did this come from? What happened to the cocky Zen I know and love? I love you and want to be with you. No amount of therapy is going to change that.” She sits back in her seat and gazes atme for a long, hard moment. “I have something important to tell you.”

“Shoot. I’m ready for whatever you throw at me.”

“I found my trust fund. While you were working on Terrance’s laptop today, I had the lawyer who’s managing my father’s estate look into other inheritances that might have been left to me. He found a trust fund in my name set up by my paternal grandfather. It’s not a massive amount, but it would give me a decent yearly income for life, meaning I can work the jobs I want to, and not work because I have to. It’s set up to start paying out on my twenty-fifth birthday.”

“That’s great news, Lexi.”

“Well, I wasn’t going to talk about money with you, but since we’re planning to live together and are engaged, I want you to know what’s going on with my finances.”

“Trust money isn’t considered a marital asset,” I tell her.

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