Page 15 of Hidden Ties

“Breathe!” Mr. Bryant started out of his chair then sat back down. “Dammit, put your head between your knees.”

Turning sideways in the chair, she did so. It was a better option than passing out.

“Now take deep breaths,” he instructed her firmly.

She did as she was told. The spinning sensation in her head eased, and she was able to catch her breath.

“Better?”

“Yes,” she mumbled, her head still down. “Is a public defender going to be able to get me out of here?”

“No.”

At the truth in his voice, her head started spinning again. “C-can you?”

“Yes.”

Finally able to raise her head back up from her knees, she wanted to look him in the eyes to make sure he was honest with her next question. “Are the Carusos going to off me if you get me out?”

“No.”

It was another simple answer from him and, while she believed him, her blood still ran cold. Owing Lucca Caruso a favor could never be good.

Yet, she had no choice.

“Then I guess you can be my attorney.”

“Thank you. You made the right choice.”

“I havenochoice,” Valerie corrected him. Straightening, she held on to the table for support as she began to lose it. “I need my Twizzlers. And my computer. I’ll go nuts without them. I used to vape, but the Twizzlers kept me sane. Will they let me vape in my cell?”

She turned in her seat, looking toward the door. There had to be a way to bust out of this jail. She designed games; she should be able to figure out a way out of here. All the officers she had met so far were definitely not gamers, and she was Valkyrie …

“No, they won’t let you vape in your cell, but—”

Dragging her gaze from the steel door, she focused back on him, at his calm voice, to see him reach into his briefcase.

“I do have this. It was going to be my lunch. Do you like N—”

“Nutty Buddy!” Valerie practically snatched it from his hand. Ripping open the package, she could tell at first bite it wasn’t the generic shit she had been eating recently, either. If she weren’t too busy shoving it down her throat, she’d lean over and give him a big ole chocolatey, peanut buttery kiss.

“Listen, the police aren’t going to let you near any computers, especially your own.” He got back to business while she finished her snack. “And they’ve executed a search warrant. Are they going to find anything incriminating?”

She started fanning herself. “The only thing they’ll find are the games I’m developing and the games I play.” Nervously, she looked away while she continued chewing the last bite.

“That’s all?” Kent Bryant searched her expression. The dude was giving her vibes he didn’t believe her. He was slipping on his attractiveness scale. Why did he doubt her?

Her chest puffed out in indignation. “I worked for the Horseshoe before they fired me. They’ll find some work-related correspondence,” she admitted. “I warned them a kindergartener could get past their firewalls, and I was terminated for my trouble.”

“That’s all?”

His relentless stare had her sucking her chest back in.

“When I got fired, Imight havesent the dude who fired me a tiny bug in an email …”

Kent exasperatedly rubbed at his temples. “Whatkindof bug?”

“Nothing bad, per se … Just … every time my boss, Edmond, sent an email to other employees, the emails would also be sent to the CEO. I wanted him to find out that Edmond is undermining his authority. I tried to tell him that before I was terminated, but he didn’t want to listen any more than when I had warned him about the firewalls. I sent another email the next day fixing the bug.”