Page 109 of Her Dark Lies
This is a sentiment I understand fully.
“I believe you when you say you didn’t kill her. But you have to admit, she died at a very convenient moment. What did she have on you?”
He takes the notebook gingerly, distaste on his face at even touching Morgan’s madness again. “You need to know that once I tell you this, you’re complicit. Our truth is the cost of marrying me.”
“So why tell me, Jack? It is worth it? Am I worth it?”
“Yes. God, yes. I want to be happy, and I want you to be happy, and that means I need to share this with you, and if you decide to walk away, then I’ll have to live with it. I’ll let you go, though it will kill me to lose you.”
I take his hand. “Jack. Just tell me. Trust me, at this point, there’s not a lot that would be bad enough to chase me away.”
He kisses me then, wild and unrestrained. “I love you, Claire.”
“I love you, too. Now, for God’s sake, tell me what the hell is going on?”
“All right. What Morgan was trying to blackmail us about—it’s complicated. But in its purest form...we broker information. On the side. It’s something that started well before me, or my dad. My great-grandfather was a spy in the war. Though he was an American, he had an allegiance to Churchill, and handed over as much information as he could that would help the Allies win the war. My grandmother Eliza worked with him, too. They had a good thing going, until she died. But William wasn’t about to stop fighting, so he brought Will into the family business. That’s how it happens, each son is brought in when the time is right. My grandfather was well positioned to gather information through the artistic community, and eventually, my dad saw ways to leverage technology to accomplish what couldn’t be done by a person, face-to-face.
“There’s essentially a back door written into all Compton software that can be opened if our partners need to see what’s happening. It’s clean, it’s safe, and it’s a very useful tool to stop powerful people from hurting innocents. I swear to you, that’s all it’s used for. None of our people are spying on your average Joe. It’s only for international relations.
“But now, with the servers hacked—the servers where we hold this gathered information—we’re vulnerable. Elliot is tied to this somehow. Someone might be trying to put pressure on him alone, and he’s running scared. He won’t tell us what he’s done, but it will come out. Are you following?”
I follow. Prince Charming is a spy. This isn’t the worst thing I could have heard, but I proceed with caution anyway, because now I’m starting to get it.
“What do I bring to the family table? I assume that’s another reason why I signed the NDA?”
Jack nods, respect that I’ve grasped it so quickly mingling with dread on his face. “Your art. It opens doors into even more areas. Say we have a paranoid despot who has stopped communicating electronically. But he or she puts great stock in art. There are ways to rig up a painting with surveillance. It’s not complicated. Only another avenue in.”
This is insane. “Keep going. I’m still listening.”
“Men with money have enemies. Enemies who will pay to gain an upper hand, to use leverage against them. It used to be different. It was more personal. Now, it’s all driven by technology. Three minutes with a mark’s cell phone and we have every keystroke we need to track his wrongdoings, gain access to his accounts, legal and otherwise.
“It’s part of what I’ve been doing under the cover of the Foundation. I’m not proud of it, but if I can get close to someone who’s taking advantage, who’s going to harm people, I do. I know it sounds like I’m justifying breaking the law, but we are saving lives.”
“But who decides who is the bad guy? If you’re targeted because you don’t go along with a government’s decision, how do you know they’re bad?”
“Trust me, I have a strong moral compass. I can tell who’s bad. We only go after people who hurt people, darling.”
I try to wrap my head around this.
“Claire? Say something.”
“Is this why someone was spying on us in our own home? Could it be one of your enemies, trying to get back at you? Using me as leverage against you?”
“We don’t know. I’d hoped Karmen would have a line into where the cameras were transmitting to by now. Malcolm was involved, obviously.”
“He was willing to take the blame for me, though. For me shooting Shane.”
“We will never know what he planned to do with that information, thank God.”
“You hope. There’s no way of knowing who has the video of that night, Jack.”
“We’ll figure it out. I swear it. It’s all tied to Ami Eister. And Karmen is about to get an ID on her.”
I finish the last bit of Scotch in my glass. I should be horrified. I should be storming out of the library. Instead, all I feel is...intrigued. This life with Jack won’t be boring. And Ana...
“Your mom runs all of this, doesn’t she?”
“She plays a large role. Yes.”
