Page 175 of Heresy

Pointing a finger at me, he’s practically yelling. “I only came out of retirement because your newfriendsare attempting to steal John’s servers.”

Steal isn’t the right word. Luca’s father left her those servers. Dad is the one who stole them.

I keep it to myself. Keep pressing for him to tell me more than I’ll ever reveal.

“Why would they want your old business servers? That makes no sense.”

“Because of what’s on them. John had years of information and surveillance that condemned their fathers for all sorts of crimes. It’s proof. He kept silent for years, but then something happened, and as soon as he realized what he’d recorded, he encrypted everything so that even I couldn’t access it.”

“Is that why you sent me to the governor? What was on the flash drive you asked me to have my friends decrypt?”

Dad shuts his mouth, Scott standing from his chair at the same time to approach me.

“The point is you need to stay out of this, Brinley. You have no part in this.”

The look I give him is a thousand knives being stabbed into his skull.

“I was brought into this when Dad involved me with the flash drive. And to top that off, I was given no warning or explanation.”

Scott doesn’t so much as blink his eyes at the vehemence in my tone.

“You were warned when I rescued you from the auto shop and took you to see the governor.”

Crossing my arms over my chest, I’m fuming. “Bit late, don’t you think?”

I spin to face my father.

He’s sunk down into a chair, exhaustion weighing heavily on him.

“What’s happened to you? For my entire life, you watched out for me. Kept me far away from your business. And now not only did you involve me in this shit, but you let that asshole…”

I point at Scott.

“…hold a gun to my head. He could have killed me.”

“I would never hurt you,” Scott argues. “I’ve known you since you were born. We all grew up together.”

I spin back to face him.

“Is that so? Then why did you mess with Shane’s car, knowing I might be in it? We almost died in that wreck.”

That gets my dad’s attention, his gaze sliding from me to Scott. “What is she talking about?”

Scott shakes his head. “I didn’t do anything to his car.”

“Brinley, what are you talking about?” Dad asks.

Eyeing Scott, I can’t tell if he’s lying to cover his tracks or being honest.

I hate that I can’t trust anybody around me.

Anybody but Shane, a voice whispers in my head.

I ignore it.

At this point, I’m not even sure I can trust myself.

Looking between them, I search for anything that will give away if they’re lying.

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