Page 47 of Fracture

“Definitely not,” Karli said.

Lorelei locked the door, and they moved to the couch. Lorelei pulled the laptop closer. She angled it so Karli could read the file.

“What am I looking at?” Karli asked.

“That’s what I’m trying to figure out. I have case files with information that’s collected from anyone who’s working on the case, so it looks like those are shared files. But these are my personal files. Things that were buried, but still on the network. Probably so someone could get to them if anything happened to me. Thanks past me for being smart enough to think of that.”

Karli hugged Lorelei to her side and squeezed. It was comforting, but not the same as when Vinnie held her.

Lorelei focused on the feel of her cousin and closed her eyes. She wasn’t alone. She was safe. Karli was there. It was all good.

The thought gave her the courage to keep digging into the confusing information on the computer. “Thank you,” Lorelei said.

“You’re welcome,” Karli replied. “I know all of this is weird, and I know I keep saying that, but I am here for you. I’m really happy you called me to be here today.”

“I have no idea if you have a job or somewhere else you need to be. It’s… this is all just so odd for me. Like, I know there are things missing, obviously, but I also understand the world.”

Karli nodded. “You know how to walk and talk and function. You understand that people work and drive and do all these things. You just don’t remember anyone.”

“Yeah. I guess it’s good that I know some things, but it’s so strange to me the things I don’t remember.”

“Have you talked to your doctor about that?”

Lorelei shook her head. “I didn’t think about until today. When I’m reading all of this stuff and have no idea what it means.”

“Then let’s look at it. Maybe I can give you some insight since I know you. Or maybe Adam needs to look at it. He might know what all of this means and you don’t have to struggle with it.”

“Maybe. But…” Lorelei chewed her lip and struggled to find the words.

“But what?” Karli asked. Her tone was gentle but cautious.

“I think I hid all this. I don’t think anyone else knew all this information.”

Karli’s brows shot up. “Not even your partner?”

Lorelei shook her head slowly. “Why would it be in some kind of code if I shared it all with Adam?”

“Maybe the two of you created the code together?”

“Maybe,” Lorelei said, but she knew that wasn’t it. She had secrets. From her partner and now from herself. And figuring them out could mean the difference between saving a life and costing her one.

“Let’s look at it. What’s the first one?” Karli asked.

Lorelei pointed to the screen and the gibberish in the file.

“What the hell does that mean?” Karli blurted.

Lorelei snorted. “You said you wanted to help.”

Karli chuckled. “I didn’t know it was going to be that confusing.”

Lorelei smirked. It was not going to be an easy day.

Vinnie reached for his phone to call Lorelei and shoved it away as quickly as he retrieved it. He was not going to bug her.

“You doing okay?” Damien asked, leaning against the wall next to Vinnie’s locker.

They’d just come back from a raid. A stash house was the center of a stand-off and their team was called in to help after the target refused to negotiate.