Page 40 of This Could Be Us
Her pain, though she is deliberately dismissive of it, is evident in the tightness around her mouth. The knotted hands in her lap and the dark circles under her eyes that she didn’t even try to conceal. It’s obvious she isn’t here to discuss her feelings but to handle her business. The least I can do is respect that and let her deal with the emotional toll later and in her own way.
“What makes you think Amber’s involved?” I ask.
“Edward used working late as an excuse all the time over the last two years, but they did have a lot of meetings, and I would see her calling him all the time. I saw something at the Christmas party that hasn’t added up, and it’s got me thinking.”
“What’s that?”
“Amber’s cousin Gerald works here in IT. I caught them in the hall at the Christmas party and they looked intimate. Not like relatives at all.”
“Okay. Go on.”
“If Gerald works in IT, he’d potentially have access to all kinds of data here at Callahan. Maybe Amber was fucking him too, and he was part of the scheme?”
My mind whirs with the information she just shared. Like one of Aaron’s Rubik’s Cubes, several possibilities start sliding and shifting until a scenario forms in my head that could actually make sense.
“This is fantastic.” I look at the screen again and grin at Soledad. “Truly. I need to get my team on all of this so we can—”
“I want my drive back.” She stretches her injured palm out, brows lifted, head cocked to the side. “You’ve seen what I have. Go to the board, the FBI, whoever, and get me what I need for my family. I’m not asking for much. Just that they leave us alone and confine their fight to Edward.”
She didn’t have to trust me with this, but she did. I’m not going to abuse that. Reluctantly, I remove the drive and place it back in her palm.
“I’ll talk to them.” I lean forward, catching and holding her eyes. “There is a lot of evidence there. I can’t emphasize enough that it could add time to Edward’s sentence.”
“Don’t tempt me with a good time,” Soledad says, her laugh short and sharp. “Edward has proven he doesn’t give a damn about me or his daughters’ well-being. I’m paying him the same courtesy.”
She stands, tucks the drive into a small purse, and heads for the door. Despite the worry and exhaustion on her face and in her eyes, she glows. Triumph, confidence, wisdom? I don’t know what added this layer to her beauty, but it’s new. There is a lot she has lost over the last few days, not the least of which is her marriage, but there is something that she’s found. Without even knowing exactly what it is, I can see she plans to hold on to it.
CHAPTER TWELVE
SOLEDAD
How the hell do you make a charcuterie this good when your life is falling apart?” Hendrix asks, spearing an olive from the wooden board on my coffee table.
“First of all,” I reply, folding a slice of salami around a hunk of Gouda, “I could make this board in my sleep.”
“Please make this board for me in your sleep,” Yasmen mumbles around a mouthful of preserves. “My God, is this jelly stuff homemade?”
“That ‘jelly stuff’ would be my secret-recipe pear preserves,” I tell her, scooping more of it onto her plate. “And getting back to my second point, my life is falling apart, yes, but not ruined.” I grimace and sip my pinot grigio. “At least I hope not. Thank you, guys, for coming over to take my mind off all this for a bit.”
“Are you kidding?” Hendrix cackles. “You went all Angela BassettWaiting to Exhaleon Edward’s clothes and his man cave. We had to see the damage unhinged Soledad could do.”
“It’s pretty spectacular.” Yasmen raises her wineglass in a toast. “To you, Sol. You did that. If Edward does manage to slither his way out of prison time, he won’t have a stitch to cover his pasty ass, and you’ve taken all his toys away.”
“My favorite is the Boston Celtics jersey.” Hendrix pauses to sip, then giggle. “The irony of him hiding the drive there and you taking a machete to it. Girl, classic.”
“It felt good in the moment,” I say, sighing and scooping up a handfulof almonds from the board. “But if I’d been thinking, I would have sold all his shit instead of destroying it. I’ll need every spare penny. Plus now I have to clean it up.”
“Get them girls out there helping you,” Hendrix says. “It’ll take no time.”
“I hate for them to see just how enraged I was.” I give a wry smile and shake my head. “I think it’s the clap that pushed me over.”
Their smiles dim when I mention the STI. I had to tell them, and their anger rose even higher than mine. I had to physically restrain Hendrix from setting Edward’s golf clubs on fire in the cul-de-sac.
“I’m so glad he’ll get what’s coming to him,” Hendrix says now. “And know what you’ll be having while his lying, cheating ass is behind bars?”
“What?” I ask with a smile queued up because I know this will be good.
“A big ol’ pan of peace cobbler!” Hendrix raises her wineglass and then downs every drop.