Page 113 of The Truths that Deceive

“But you’re handing me in to the CIA. Or to the someone who hired you.”

“Actually, they hired a friend who passed the job to me, but,” I say, “I see your point. You found the connection, Calista. Between the sex traffickers and the people trying to sell the weapon. I need the information. I need your trust. And I can make heads roll.”

“By getting it all to the CIA.”

“Partly.” I send a text to Jones and one to Reaper. “But what if I could make it so you disappear, along with your freedom?”

She doesn’t say anything for a long time. I don’t know what I expect… scorn, excitement? What I don’t expect is the blank look on her face and it twists a knife, ice-cold, in my stomach.

“I’d ask for the hidden agenda. The clauses that draw blood.”

The knife twists harder. Even as I said the words, she knows I’m feeding her a lie. And fuck, I would change her course in a heartbeat if I could.

Smart, funny Calista with a razor-sharp bite and a soft, sumptuousness that goes beyond flesh can’t be saved.

She takes a breath and nods. “I wanted… I wanted to avenge my mother’s death but the asshole who raped her or groomed her or whatever it was, he knocked her up, sent her off to have his little bastards, and then lured her back in for fun and games with other men until they were done and threw her out with the trash.”

She sits on the sofa, drawing her knees up beneath her chin.

“She never recovered. Never got to be a good mom. Henry hated her because he mourned her loss, and hate’s just easier. And… When I got that text in Germany, it gave me purpose. Like I might actually find the guilty and make them pay.”

Fuck me. I rub the palm of my hand between my ribs, where that cold pain’s moved toward. But I push it down because this is it, and the best I can offer. A lie wrapped in truth.

She’s funny, fucking smart, and she’s got skill. I know why they want her in. Skill like hers is dangerous.

For the first time in my life, first time since being an adult, I don’t know what to do.

“I just… I just want to destroy the pricks and now?”

“If you give me that info, you’ll get the chance.”

Calista rubs her cheek against her knee, then looks up. “We both know I had no chances since before I met you. Me escaping, me living free, it’s not an option. They have my brother.”

“Actually, I put Reaper on your brother. No doubt he’s got people who can disappear him if it comes to that.”

Her eyes narrow. “You better mean disappear as in a new identity. The CIA would do it very differently.”

She doesn’t need to say I used the exact same threat on her.

“Calista, I need that stuff. Whatever you have. If I can use it, then I’ll bring down the sex traffickers. I’m sorry the ones directly involved with your mother are gone or lost to us. But I can bring the rest down and make it look like you were a hero. Maybe I can barter your freedom.”

“Maybe.”

I know she doesn’t believe me, but she does something. She holds out her hand, palm up and open. “I’m assuming you’ve got a thumb drive.”

“Calista—”

“Let’s pretend I believe you. Maybe I can pretend I’m on the job. Just… just promise I can see my brother. Please?”

“I promise.”

It’s a lie.

She rubs her hand over her face, then puts her feet on the ground and picks up the computer. It takes five minutes, but she finally finishes and hands me the drive. “You can check. It’s the real deal. The unreleased apps I hid things in, the cloud I actually stored things in.”

“I’m going to have to believe you, too,” I say, realizing that’s true. “Because I wouldn’t be able to tell.”

“You won’t, but the CIA? That’s a different story, and I’d rather be handed over and not be hung for treason. This way… if you let them know I gave it to you to give to them…” She cocks her head. “Is that naïve? It sounds like it, but… you have power.”

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