Page 29 of Sizzling Nights

"I found some things out. First of all, Theresa, I'm so sorry to tell you, but it does look like the accident wasn't an accident. My friend told me they're investigating and at every turn, they've had to jump over hurdles. That made him and his partner look closer at someone in the agency, and they most likely had a mole. So now there's a task force set up to investigate the mole, but that also shed light on what was going on. It appears Carolyn was strangled, put into her car, and it was pushed over a cliff into the water. By the time she was found, the evidence of murder was difficult to uncover, but a crack coroner noticed the deep contusions on her larynx and kept investigating."

Theresa swayed and reached out to hold on to the table. He reached over and took her free hand in his. "Thank you for investigating this, Mitch. How are they handling it in Maine?"

"They're keeping this investigation under wraps for right now. The mole has likely told his handlers that it's happening but they're moving forward."

Marco continued to stare at Theresa as she processed this news. He replied to Mitch but didn't look away from Theresa. "Theresa told me that Carolyn had the original documents she had uncovered. The documents were stored in a safe in Carolyn’s house. Is there any way someone could go in there and see if they're still there?"

Mitch let out a slow whistle. "I can certainly ask."

Theresa took a deep breath. "Mitch, your friend isn't working for the police, is he?"

"No. He's working for a private company hired to come in and ferret out cases like this. They're off the books, so to speak. Do you suspect the police are dirty?"

"Not necessarily. But the Celtics do have some of them bought, which is likely where your mole came from. But there will be others inside. The lure of money and the sheer evilness of the Celtics is enough to turn a good cop. They'll threaten families, children, and wives. They don't care. They threaten into submission."

"I'm sorry I don't have better news, Theresa."

"Me too," she whispered.

Marco squeezed her hand again. "Mitch, Theresa finished writing her exposés. I'm reading them now. You should read them too. They're unreal and very detailed."

"I'd love to read them. They may give me and my friends in Maine something to go on."

Theresa weakly smiled. "I'll email them to you." She cleared her throat. "Once the full autopsy and investigation into Carolyn's death is finished, I'll write a story about that too."

"I'll make sure my friend gets me the documentation you need to publish it."

The line went dead, and Marco leaned forward to hug Theresa. She let out a shuddered breath and tucked her lips into the crook of his neck. He closed his eyes as feelings washed over him. He wanted to protect her. It was getting close to needing to protect her. Maybe he was getting too close but there was no going back now.

18

She inhaled Marco's scent, felt warmed by his nearness, and bolstered by his strength and courage. They could do this. She could do this with his help. Mitch's too. But she was quickly coming to rely on Marco. Not only rely on him but want him nearby.

He whispered, "Are you okay?"

She closed her eyes and let his strength seep into her a bit more. She sat upright and looked into his sexy brown eyes. "Yes. I hate what happened to her and I'll likely not sleep at night for a while thinking about what she went through. She was tough. And she said she knew the risk. But I wonder if she knew it could lead to her murder."

She watched his Adam's apple rise and fall as he swallowed. "I don't know if our brains can actually let us completely go there. We know the risk. It makes us more careful. But to actually deeply know what that might look like, I don't think we ever really know until it's too late."

"Yeah."

He turned back to her computer, clicked on the fourth article, and kept reading. She sat quietly as he read, waiting for his response. The fourth exposé focused on the fact that the money was funding political campaigns. They were putting people in power that would hide what they were doing. Would help them do it without fear of being found out. She'd titled that one,The Political Nexus.

She'd been inspired as she wrote the fifth one to title it,Aftermath and Accountability - The Long Road to Justice. At this point, they were so far from justice and accountability. She wanted this piece to spark a firestorm of public outrage that would make it too big to sweep under the rug. There needed to be a public outing of the officials who looked the other way or were actively involved in the operations of these sons of bitches who had been stealing, killing, and railroading innocent lives. She knew there would be resistance and she hoped with everything in her, especially now that she also needed to avenge Carolyn, that enough people would take up the mantle so that it wouldn't be dropped.

Marco finished reading and turned in his chair to face her. "I'm in awe of what you've done here. You have put yourself in danger beyond anyone I know to expose the wrongs of some very powerful people. And I am humbled by you."

She smiled softly, her cheeks heated hearing his words. "Thank you. But to be honest, at the time I didn't know how much danger I was in until today. I was investigating a story. Even when Carolyn told me to run, I thought she might be overreacting. In my limited thinking, I thought exposing them would make us too prominent to harm. Everyone would look at the people spurned when one of us died. Right? Instead, they have people to cover it up as if Carolyn never mattered. I'm going to expose them and make them see that she mattered. Mercury mattered. I matter."

He nodded and grinned as she spoke. "You do matter. All of you matter."

She felt the tears fall before her brain comprehended what they were. She did that sometimes. She got all worked up and passionate about a story and didn't pay attention to what was happening to her. Like not drinking her coffee as she worked.

She sniffed and swiped at the tears on her cheeks. Marco stared at her. She couldn't quite read the thoughts in his mind from his expression. It was almost as if he was proud of her.

Finally, his lips turned up in a sexy smile and he whispered again. "You're incredible and I'm so inspired by you."

"Inspired?"

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