And Black had known the bare bones of the FBI operation. On the phone the evening before, I’d mentioned that Alaric would be bunking at Little Riverley overnight, although he’d arrived earlier than I thought he would.
“Were the sensors replaced before or after the theft?” Ana asked.
“I can’t remember. When do I have time to organise building work?”
“Would Bradley know?”
“About the roof, sure, but I doubt he’d have got involved with the sensors. That’s Nate’s domain.”
“So we have to ask Nate?”
“We’re not asking him. Are you crazy? He’d go straight to Black and ask him why I wanted to know.”
“There must be some kind of record. Emails, text messages… Nate wouldn’t just turn up one day with a pile of sensors.”
“Probably, but Nate’s got more layers of security on his devices than you have on your house.”
And considering even Quinn set the alarms off on occasion and he lived there…
“Well, somebody needs to find those details.”
“Fuck.” I wasn’t a bloody hacker. Mack could do it. Or possibly Agatha, but I didn’t want any of our Blackwood clan getting involved. Asking them to split their loyalties wasn’t a route I was willing to go down. There was only one person I could ask. “I’ll speak to Luke. He might be able to help.”
That would still be hella awkward since he was married to Mack, but we had history and he owed me favours.
Ana squeezed my hand. “And if the timing fits, you know what we have to do.”
Go and sob quietly in a corner somewhere? Because if Black had been involved in the theft, it meant he’d lied to me—perhaps by omission, but it was still a lie. I thought back to the way he’d defended Alaric for failing to tell me about his daughter. Had he been feeling guilty because he’d done a similar thing?
No, I couldn’t quite see it. Black didn’t feel guilt. It was one of the traits that allowed him to do his job and still sleep at night.
Stay objective, Emmy.
“Yes,” I told Ana. “Somebody needs to make a test jump.”
CHAPTER 33 - EMMY
“TELL ME AGAIN why I’m doing this instead of, say, Mack?” Luke asked. “Or you know, just asking Nate to do a search on his inbox instead of us digging through years’ worth of archives.”
“It’s a potential personnel issue. I don’t want anyone from Blackwood involved at this stage in case it turns out to be nothing.”
“The old ‘no smoke without fire’ gossip.”
“Exactly.”
“What did they do? Steal roof tiles?”
“At the moment, I’m not sure they did anything.”
“Okay, I’m in. Give me the time frame again?”
“Eight years ago. Early summer.”
I paced the den in Luke and Mack’s apartment. I didn’t go over there often, and I’d brought a box of cakes from Mrs. Fairfax as a cover story. Would it be rude if I ate one? I suspected Bradley visited from time to time, though—the army of throw pillows lined up on the floor next to Luke’s leather couch was a dead giveaway, as was the sparkly pot of pens that was about to fall off the edge of the desk. I nudged it closer to the nearest monitor and picked up a mini chocolate muffin.
“Don’t drop crumbs,” Luke told me. “Not on the keyboards, anyway.”
“When you have kids, they’ll get crumbs everywhere. And toys, and mud, and baby vomit.”
“Mack told you?”
“That you’re trying for a baby? No, she just said you were looking for a house with a yard, and it seemed like the logical explanation.”
Plus she had two assistants now. If she wanted to take maternity leave, it was the ideal time. Not that I could see her staying away from a computer for six months or even six hours. She’d probably be coding in the delivery room.
“I suppose it is. You’re not upset?”
“Why would I be upset?”
“I guess… I guess because of our past?”
“We broke up over three years ago, and I don’t even want kids. Just don’t expect me to babysit.”
Yes, I was fine. My husband might have ruined my ex-boyfriend’s life and nearly gotten us both killed, but everything was tickety-boo.
“We’re planning to get a nanny.”
“I’m not really sure what I’m supposed to say. Good luck? Have fun?”
“Hey, here’s the email.” The relief in Luke’s voice was evident because neither of us wanted to have that conversation. “Twentieth of June, Nate said he’d come and fit the new roof sensors the following Friday when he’d returned from Mexico.”
Right. He’d been away, hadn’t he? It was coming back to me now. A carnival in Carmen’s home town and her little brother’s birthday bash. And when had the Emerald shit gone down? On the twenty-third.
Fuck.
“Thanks.”
“You don’t sound happy. Is that everything you needed?”
“I really appreciate you doing this.” And at that moment, I was thinking perhaps I’d been a little hasty in ditching Luke. He wouldn’t pull this next-level shit with Mack. No way. Sure, he was boring, but he’d never parachute onto a roof then creep through a tunnel and steal ten million bucks. “Please, just keep it between us?”
“I won’t lie to Mack if she asks a direct question, but I won’t volunteer any information either. Good enough?”
“Good enough.”
See? Luke was a straight shooter.
My heart sank faster than the elevator as I made my way to the basement parking garage. For a moment while I waited on the top floor, I’d considered opening a window and taking the quick way down. If Black had done this, the entire foundation of my world would be shaken. He was my rock. My mentor, my lover, my friend. I’d put my life in his hands a hundred times, a thousand, and I could only do that because I’d thought the trust between us was