Page 63 of Seal My Fate

“I will. I love you.”

“Love you, too.”

I watch her disappear in the crowd, heading for the check-in hall. Then I force myself to get in the car with Saint again, wiping my eyes. “Let’s go,” I tell him quickly, not wanting to wait for Wren to leave.

He pulls into the flow of traffic, and then hits the brakes as a white van cuts in front of us, pulling up to the curb. Saint sounds the horn, as some burly guys leap out of the van, ignoring us.

“Guess someone’s about to miss their flight,” he says, pulling around them, and hitting the road again.

I sit quietly in the passenger seat for the rest of the drive back to Saint’s place, missing Wren already.

“You’ll talk all the time,” he reminds me, as we arrive at the house. “And she’s right. She’s safer the further away she is from all of this. If Ashford found her…”

“I know.” I swallow. “That doesn’t mean I have to be happy about it.”

He smiles. “Do you want to sulk for the rest of the day?”

“Yes.” I fold my arms, wishing it could all be different. But I can’t act naïve. I know that the only way out of this for anyone is directly through the flames.

And now we have the evidence, we have the spark to light the fire.

I follow Saint inside, watching as he carefully rearms the alarm behind us. Then we settle in the kitchen with a fresh pot of tea, and biscuits, the English cure for all ills.

Except this one.

I place the hard drive on the table, and we both stare at it. For something that looks so simple and small, it has the potential to bring down one of the most prestigious families in all of England. And a whole lot more people besides.

“So… What do we do now?” I ask. “We could turn it over to the authorities, or leak it to the press. A story like this would blow up in a heartbeat.”

Saint nods slowly, looking thoughtful. “I want to wait.”

My head snaps up. “What? Why?”

“Not for long,” he says. “But think we should talk to my father first.”

I blink, surprised. “Saint… You realize he’s guilty by now.”

“I do,” he nods. “But it’s not just him. He had to have been working with accomplices. Maybe they forced him into it, or he got in over his head, but either way, there are other people involved here, I just know it. Getting rid of Valerie?” he reminds me. “Having Wren attacked? That guy who came to kill you both? That’s not my father. He may have fixed the trial data and covered everything up, but I’ve known that man my entire life. I can’t believe he’s capable of murder.”

I pause, not so sure about this. “If we warn him, they have a chance to hide everything again,” I point out.

“I don’t want to warn him,” Saint reassures me. “I want to get him to flip on the others. Come clean and tell the whole truth. We want to catch the people who did this—allof them. If my father will inform on the rest of them, then we’ll have all the information we need. And we can force him to withdraw the drug and set things right at Ashford Pharma.”

I think it through. “Having your father on our side would make us more credible,” I agree. “They wouldn’t be able to deny what’s been going on.”

“And it keeps Wren’s name out of things,” Saint adds, getting up.

“What do you mean?” I ask, frowning.

“She’ll need to be named,” he says, fetching ice cream from the freezer and setting it down in front of me, along with two spoons. Coffee flavor. My favorite. “Wren’s the whistleblower,” he continues. “She’ll need to give statements to the authorities, answer questions. And if the media get hold of her name, well… It’s a blockbuster story. Faking her death, disappearing like that… It’s the stuff headlines and true crime documentaries are made of.”

Shit. He’s right.

And I already know that Wren doesn’t want the spotlight. She’s barely been holding it together with the stress of what’s going on. When I imagine her photo being splashed all over the newspapers, reporters stalking her every move. And my parents…?

I wince. “You think they’d leave her alone if we can get your father to come clean?” I ask.

Saint nods. “We wouldn’t even need to mention her.”

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