By admin Hubby 9
We didn’t leave New York.
Corwin brought me to a military compound where Mom was staying.
The moment I walked in, I saw Mom sitting at a square table, tears streaming down her face.
Next to her sat a white–haired man in military uniform, his face thunderous with rage.
Corwin and I exchanged glances and quickened our pace.
‘Mom.”
General Everett.”
Mom went pale when she saw me soaking wet.
What happened to you?”
didn’t dare tell her the truth, squeezing her hand reassuringly. “It’s nothing. Someone dumped water from their window while I was walking down an alley.”
orwin glanced at me but didn’t contradict my story. Instead, he asked the general quietly:
General Everett, what’s going on here?”
he general shot him an annoyed look. “You’re asking me? We’ve got this kind of scum in our city and you didn’t think to tell me?”
General Everett had quite a temper. He brushed past Corwin and stood in front of me.
Young lady, your mother told me about your family’s situation.”
Don’t worry. What happened in my city is my responsibility. I’ll see this through to the end.”
You and your mother aren’t going anywhere. Go get cleaned up and changed, then settle in here.”
looked at Mom questioningly. She pulled me into a room, helping me dig through our suitcase for clean clothes while explaining.
He’s some kind of high–ranking officer. I couldn’t help myself–we got to talking and I ended up telling him about your father. He flew into a rage and insisted n helping us.”
eeing the guilty look on Mom’s face, I patted her shoulder and took the clothes into the bathroom.
When I came out, I found Corwin and asked him directly about General Everett’s background.
Corwin told me the general was on the same level as his grandfather–a decorated war hero with multiple commendations, the kind of man who could shake up he entire city with a single phone call,
Seeing my amazement and the calculating look in my eyes, Corwin smiled.
“If you have solid evidence about your father’s case, you might want to trust General Everett.”
“He’s the type who can’t stand injustice. Righteous to a fault.”
Taking Corwin’s advice, the next day I placed a flash drive and a digital recorder in front of General Everett.
I wasn’t sure if the data would contain evidence of Cassian’s crimes, but the recorder held audio from my time in Selene’s car.
Selene had no idea I’d been recording that night.
17:02
Originally, I’d planned to use it against Cassian if he caught me stealing his data–mutual assured destruction.
I never expected to use it against her instead.
After listening to the recording. General Everett’s fury returned full force.
“Unbelievable! In broad daylight, under the rule of law, and they’re talking about murder like it’s nothing! And deliberately driving a man to suicide!”
Corwin brought a computer from his room. We spent three days going through the flash drive but found nothing useful.
Corwin was exhausted, and his hand slipped on the mouse, accidentally opening an auto–backup from a messaging app.
There it was–a payment record from an overseas account to the witness’s family.
Thinking of that girl, I immediately went with Corwin to her house.
Her entire family had moved away, terrified of Cassian.
We were heading back disappointed when we ran into Cassian in the alley.
He looked thinner, with an air of defeat about him.
When he saw me, a flicker of light returned to his eyes.
Nerina? I knew you weren’t dead.”
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