Page 95 of Severed Rivalry
I wait and wait as they read and re-read. Palms to the island I lean and lift my brows, expectant. “What do we do?”
“What does Sariah want to do?” Ayla asks, reframing the situation.
I extend my palm to her phone indicating her plan to move forward with exposing the perpetrators.
“Then we protect her,” Ayla says as if that’s that.
“There’s a lot that needs protecting,” Ren says simply. “What’s her footprint like? Digital footprint.”
I shrug, not knowing how to answer that, but Liam acts.
His thumbs fly over his phone as we all wait on his answer. “Pretty clean. She mostly uses creative logins. Taught Renée to use the same. It could all be linked, but not to her.”
“The mug shot is damning,” Christian puts in.
“Can we get it expunged?” I need this for her… for her sanity, but more so for her safety.
“We can try.” My brother-in-law grabs his phone, placing it to his ear and stalks away.
“Her house is vulnerable. Her car. Her job. Her daughter. Anyone else we need to have in the mix?” Ren asks
“Her mom.” I reply.
“So, two houses, two cars, two jobs, two lives that intersect, but aren’t parallel, plus a teenager. You’re not making this easy. When does she plan to expose everything?” Ren lays out the challenge before us.
The talking is getting to be too much beyond the one or two-word answers.
Me: We meet with the FBI tomorrow night if I can make that happen, but I’d bet shit gets rolling early next week unless they sit on it.
“They could,” Ren puts in. “Depends on the case they’re trying to build and evidence. And how long to get warrants.”
Me: She’s built the whole case. Air-tight, digitally anyway. I don’t know what more they’d need after what she collected and how she explained it to me other than to be able to confirm for themselves the accuracy.
“Any chance the FBI won’t name their informant?” Liam asks.
“We can try,” Ren replies. “But if the media pushes or they pull a FOIA on it, it will come out.”
“Why would someone care enough to do the Freedom of Information request?” Ayla asks.
“You think if someone named your husband you wouldn’t dig that information up and go all crazy on their ass?” Liam counters.
“You know I would,” my sister replies.
Ren begins, “Then assume the same of any ‘victim’ of this scheme.”
“Victim?” My sister has her back up.
“Would you assume Christian’s innocence?” he continues.
“Yes.” Her hair flies out as she whips her face to him. “But I know him, and he would never.”
“I would never what?”
“Perv on little kids.”
My brother-in-law’s face goes hard. “Right.” He looks up atme. “Sherman will try. He’s friends with the Sheriff and he’s willing to ask, especially in light of the circumstances.”
“Circumstances?” Ayla queries.
