Page 66 of Dearly Betrayed

“Oh, my fucking god,” Casey says, leaning forward and staring at me like an alien just burst from my chest. “You are so lucky! It took meforeverbefore she let me use her first freaking name. And here you are, pulling it off in like a week.”

“Only took one murder attempt,” I mumble, staring after Mrs. Costa, not sure how to feel about that.

It was… kind of nice. An awkward hug, but a warm one, and she seemed like she really was sorry it happened and is happy I’m not dead.

Strange. But nice.

After dinner, I find Jayson back in the condo. He’s in the living room, his sleeves rolled up, looking exhausted, but gets up and kisses me when I enter the room. It’s strange how quickly that affection’s been normalized. I linger under his touch, wanting more. A few days ago, I would’ve recoiled in shock. Now… I’m hungry for him.

“How was it?” he asks, directing me over to the coffee table. Papers and photographs are spread out all over.

“Good. Casey’s great. And your mother stopped by to say how sorry she was about everything.”

He rears back as if struck. “Wait. My mother?”

“Yeah, I know, right?” I lean forward, squinting at headshots of men. “What’s all this?”

“Forget that for a second. My mother. Nessa Costa. Came to see you? And said she was sorry? I don’t think I’ve ever heard her use the wordsorry.”

“Asked me to call her by her first name too.”

Jayson’s hands go over his heart. “I think I’m having a stroke.”

“Call 9-1-1 then but don’t think I’ll take care of you.”

“Wow. This is incredible.”

“Imagine how I feel. Seriously, what is all this?”

He gathers himself before pushing a few photos my way. “Recognize any of these people?”

I point at one. “I know him. Part of the clan back home. O’Malley? I think? I recognize a few others, but they’re all soldiers. Guys I never really knew.”

“These are the nine still in the States. The guys your brother left behind. One’s dead but we have surveillance footage of the rest hanging around. They won’t get within two miles of the casino without us finding out about it now that their faces are in the software.”

I go very still. “Software?”

“Sure, we’ve got advanced facial recognition stuff wired all over, plus there are recording devices in every room. Your phone’s filled with it too.”

My hands go cold. My stomach feels as though it might drop through my body into the floor. “My phone’s being monitored?”

“Passively. Nobody’s actually listening to the recordings. Well, Adler’s got guys going through them now to make sure you weren’t being tracked by your brother, but that’s just a paranoid precaution. You can still use your phone though, everything’s automatically uploaded to our servers.”

I go very still. My heart’s racing like crazy and I feel lightheaded.

The documents in the duffel hidden in the wall.

In that stupid pipe access hatch.

My conversation with my brother, telling him all about it.

They have it.

They fucking have every word.

And now they’re going to find it.

I get up and walk away, feeling jittery. I head into the kitchen and pour myself an enormous glass of wine.

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