Page 104 of Isolated
“Who is this?”
That question followed the loud slap on the table.
Any time I’d ever watched a movie or television show involving private investigators, the one thing that stuck out in my mind was the pictures. The investigators would do surveillance for hours. Days. And in the end, they’d find the culprit and pin the crime or indiscretion on the guilty party with the evidence they’d gotten in their pictures. It always felt so contrived and convenient.
As my eyes shifted to the side where Landen had slapped his hand down on the table, noting the stack of pictures beneath it, I realized there was nothing about photographic evidence that was bad beyond the truth it told. The secrets it revealed.
The picture on top. The individual in it.
Eyes wide, my gaze shot to Landen’s. “Where did you get this? I don’t understand.”
Not a hint of amusement was in his tone when he replied, “This is your double agent.”
My chest tightened painfully, my throat closing. It couldn’t be true. “How… Are you sure?”
He jerked his chin toward the photos. “Look through them. You’ll see.”
Moving slowly, feeling repugnant at the truth before me, I picked up the stack of pictures and flipped through them.
I should have seen the signs. It was all coming together now about how it happened, how it was possible. All the things I’d overlooked and the stories I’d told myself.
Maybe I was responsible for what happened to me if I couldn’t see what was staring me in the face.
Landen rested his hand gently on my shoulder. When I looked up at him, I saw the fury he felt on my behalf blazing in his eyes.
“What am I going to do?”
I asked the question, because I knew he’d already come up with a game plan.
Sure enough, he didn’t hesitate to sit down beside me and share it. “Now that we know what we’re looking at,whowe’re looking at, we’re going to go over everything I’ve found, make sure there’s nothing missing, and we’re going to build your defense. Then we’re going to have a wonderful weekend together. And on Monday morning, I accompany you into that building and watch you clear your name.”
As awful as the realization of who was behind this was,I couldn’t help but allow the smile to spread across my face. Not for the revenge and retribution I’d received, but for the happiness I felt about having Landen in my life. It was no secret I’d been feeling a lot for him for months, but this man had made it impossible not to fall for him completely in a matter of weeks.
“Thank you, Landen.”
He drove his fingers into my hair and urged me toward him so he could kiss my mouth. “You’re welcome, Iris. Let’s get this plan put together so we can start our weekend.”
“Mmm. I think you’ve got a lot of appreciation coming your way over the next two and a half days.”
Landen laughed. “And you’ve got a lot of worshipping coming yours. We don’t have any time to waste.”
A shiver ran along my spine. “Where do we start?”
With that, Landen and I got to work.
TWENTY-NINE
Landen
I was leaning over the front fender of my project vehicle with the garage door open when I heard a car approaching.
My lips curved into a smile, because without even looking, I knew who was here.
Iris.
We’d spent the night at her place last night. Although I didn’t regret giving her the information that I’d found about who had been behind the sabotage at her job, it was safe to say, I’d been slightly concerned about how it would impact her.
Fortunately, after we went through every last piece of evidence I’d gathered and put together what she’d need when she’d walked through those doors on Monday, Iris proved just how resilient she was.
