Page 49 of Embedded
My eyes fluttered open to the sun that shone down between the two buildings next door. Instantly, the night before rushed back to me, and I turned to look at Paul. Only the bed was empty. There was a note written on a napkin propped on the nightstand. It told me to look at my phone.
I quickly read the text message that had come in two hours before.
Paul: Sorry to leave but Cole called a meeting. Chili arrived this morning. When you’re up, let me know. We need to talk.
My stomach dropped for a second; did he regret our night together? Happiness immediately replaced the feeling when I read the message right after it.
Paul: I realized how that sounded. I meant the four of us need to talk.
I sent a message back.
Nicole: I’m up, give me twenty.
Paul: Second floor, conference room 3B
I wasted no time and was showered, packed, and out the door under the twenty-minute mark. I found the conference room and was pleased to be greeted by Paul outside the door with a cup of coffee and a pastry.
“Hey,” I stopped myself from leaning in for a kiss, even though my libido didn’t take the cue, “thank you.” I parked my suitcase next to the door and happily took what he handed me.
“I feel like an ass for leaving, but it was an order.”
“I understand. Are you feeling better?”
He broke eye contact with me as he cleared his throat. “Listen, you don’t have to agree to what Cole is going to offer you. For the record, I’m not on board, but I’m being overruled here, so…” He shook his head.
“Um, all right.” Now, that piqued my interest. “Can I go in now?”
He hesitated then nodded.
Cole and Chili smiled at me as I entered the room, and Cole pointed to a chair across the table from him. “Good morning, Nicole. How did you sleep?”
I didn’t risk a glance at Paul. From what I knew about Cole, he’d immediately figure out what we were up to last night. “Fine, thank you.”
“Good. I’m going to jump right into this.” I gave a nod. “First, I want to know, if you had video evidence that could have cleared you from what you were being accused of with Chase, why didn’t you just show it to us right off?”
I spun the coffee cup around between my fingers. “Your word, your reputation, and your trust, mean everything to you, correct?”
“Yes.”
“It does for me too. I told you I would never use a child for a story. I needed you to take my word on that. It took time, but I think you eventually believed me.” I waited for him to answer my suspicions.
“Correct.”
“I need you, all of you,” I looked around at them, “to trust that when I speak, I speak the truth. That’s important in my world as much as it is in yours. I had every intention of showing you the video, just like how I had every intention of giving you Bruno’s phone when we got to a safe place.” I gave a light shrug.
“I respect the hell out of that.” Cole glanced at Paul, who kept his gaze on me.
Paul clicked his pen. “I have a question.”
“Sure,” I addressed him.
He leaned back in his seat. “Mike said you were doing a story on his wife Cat, but then you said that the story was pulled because he got what he needed. Was that DEA Agent Glen?”
“Yes.” It was strange for me to speak freely about someone I’d kept secret for years, but now I was legally allowed to. “He thought Catalina still had ties to her father’s drug business and wanted any information I could find on her. It only took me a couple of days of digging to realize that she wanted nothing to do with him or the family money. As soon as I gave him that information, the DEA moved on to one of the cousins.”
“Right, but you said story, not drug information. So, you were working a story angle on her as well?”
“That’s correct. It was basically turned into a double assignment. The Washington Post got word I was digging into Catalina and wanted to know if the rumors were real. That a Cartel daughter fell in love with a US soldier. It seemed a little too convenient.” His brows pinched as if he didn’t like that comment. “However, once I started to dig, I saw it for what it was. She was a woman who fell for someone she loved, nothing more. Then once I found out that the man she fell in love with was a Blackstone member, I shut it down quickly. I didn’t want public attention put on Blackstone. Besides, Catalina deserved to be left alone. She had been through enough.”
