Page 119 of A Secret and a Lie
“Wait, Elliott isalive?”
Drake pipes up then. “According to the spokesperson for Homeland Security, yes. The cell phone inside his breast pocket saved his life. He’s expected to recover.”
Relief floods my system, followed swiftly by guilt. He wouldn’t have gotten shot if it hadn’t been for me.
“York has to pay for this.” But I’m not leaving it up to the government to make sure he goes down through the proper channels of prosecution. Instead, I’m going to do what I should’ve done all along.
“I don’t like that expression you’re wearing,” Drake remarks, giving her a sideways glance before flicking his eyes to me.
“What did you have in mind, doll?” I know I’m going to hate this plan even before she spells it out though.
Drake shakes his head and thrusts his hands into his hair. “I think I’m going to need a beer before I’m talked into something else idiotic.”
He moves to the kitchen as I step forward. “Gen, what the fuck do you have in mind here?”
She swallows a large gulp of her cocktail before announcing, “I want to confront Percy York. Alone.”
Drake lifts his beer to his lips before shaking his head firmly as he stalks back into the room. “That’s a suicide mission. He’ll show up armed, and even if by some miracle, he doesn’t, he has all the leverage with your business. Plus, he owns the FBI.”
Everything Drake said is true. I frown, thinking there must be more to this.
Surely, she doesn’t think she can simply walk into the storm alone. She wouldn’t leave a meeting like that unscathed. But if she thinks she can do it, we should hear her out.
“Tell us why you think this would work and how you’ll survive that?”
“Since I got out of prison, I’ve been slowly rebuilding my client list. I’ve got nearly eighty percent back, and I can get the last few. Especially when I tell them that I’ll release the secrets of anyone who doesn’t come back to my books. That’s the thing I have that Percy doesn’t. I’ve never threatened to weaponize anyone’s secrets, not until now.
“I’ll be able to handle him one-on-one. You’ve seen him in interviews and had conversations with him; you know he’s the cockiest asshole to ever walk the Earth. Men like Percy York are all the same.”
I nod, taking a sip of my scotch, resolving to discuss the finer details later. “Okay, that takes care of that small part of the plan, but what about the FBI?”
She winces, and my eyebrows furrow. When she tosses back the remainder of her martini, I brace myself for whatever she’s about to tell us.
“First, you need to understand that I didn’t put this together until I saw your scars and heard your story, but Theo Jackson is solely responsible for the death of those twelve people on your failed mission. He’s the reason your cover was blown. I know, because he’s a client of one of my girls. Based on the secret he submitted, I suspect he was told that he’d be protected by the Justice Department if I went down.”
My body flashes ice cold, my shoulders stiffening and my lip curling. My grip on the crystal glass tightens, and I’m about to find out if it’s possible to shatter glass with my bare hands.
Memories pool in my mind of hitting the concrete floor, my blood pooling around me, the excruciating pain radiating through my body as I felt my life slipping away. Heavy pressure pierced through my waning consciousness, and when I opened my eyes, my best friend’s worried face was all I saw. Gunfire popped around us, but his sole focus was keeping me alive. Had it not been for Drake and his contacts with the ATF, I wouldn’t be here today.
“I fucking hate that guy,” Drake explodes, verbalizing my thoughts exactly.
I thought I’d fucked up, blown my own cover, but now I know it was Jackson’s fault.He sentenced me to die.
“With everything else going on, I didn’t say anything until now because it took me a while to dig through the records to triple-check that I was right, but that’s the secret he submitted. Plus, I had to be sure I could trust that you wouldn’t act on this revelation. I didn’t want you to do something…reckless.”
To her credit, she looks a little guilty, though that’s not necessary. She didn’t want me to act on the rage simmering in my veins. While I’m a little irritated that she left me in the dark, I understand her reasoning. I can’t guarantee that I would’ve been able to keep myself in check, and that would’ve ruined whatever plan Genevieve was concocting.
Nothing surprises me anymore, least of all learning that Jackson’s a client of hers. What does surprise me is how deep my hatred for the man runs.
“That’s why he gave me the tip to get my foot in the door with Henry. He knew about it,” I muse aloud. “Between Henry and Jackson’s connection to you, and Percy’s link to Henry, it makes sense that they were finally able to take you down and why they had to use someone undercover to do it.”
“What do you need from us?” Drake asks, his jaw set, fists clenched, and I know he’s praying that this ends with a little retribution, too.
“Can I just say—”
“That this is a bad fucking idea?” I finish for Drake. “You already did, about eighty times.”
Drake has been bitching about how fucked up this plan is for the last four days, pretty much from the moment we started combingthrough every detail with Genevieve. I haven’t wanted to admit it, but I agree with him.
