Page 115 of Hacking His Code

“Oh?” Hunter replies.

“Yeah, and I didn’t have to bring her here by force.”

As funny as it is, I can’t bring myself to laugh. Not when so much is at stake.

“This is the FBI contact I was telling you about,” Gabriel says, gesturing to a burly man at a long table.

The man rises, holding out his hand. “The name’s Jim.”

Hunter shakes his hand, then takes a seat at the table where Ernestine, Rand, and Remi are already seated. Gabriel and I follow suit.

“The first thing I want to say,” Jim starts, “is that you must tell me the truth. With everything that’s at stake, I’m going to do whatever I can to bury this, but I can’t risk things coming back to bite me. And you can’t either.”

“Understood,” Rand says, and Ernestine nods her head in agreement.

“Now, family matters should remain family matters, so if you could be so kind, Gabriel, Remi, and Arinessa, I’d like some words alone with the Davies family.”

“Arinessa’s staying,” Hunter says.

The Icors leave the room, and Jim’s face grows dour. “I’ve already been spun up on what happened twenty-four years ago by my superiors, but I believe some new information has come to light. Ari, you go first.”

I look around the table, unsure of what to say. I believe him when he says he wants to bury this, but some skeletons refuse to stay hidden.

“I was hired by Hunter to find Lucy Whitmore,” I finally reply. “She already knows that, though.” I nod to Hunter’s mother. “She told me during our brunch.”

She looks down morosely.

Jim follows up with, “And did you find anything?”

I want to lie. I want to bury it. But I can’t.”

I start with. “Chet has been posing as Lucy Whitmore. He’s the one who kidnapped me at the behest of others who have not been identified.”

“Chet?” Rand says in disbelief.

“What about Lucy?” Hunter cuts in.

Why does it have to be me that hurts him?

I exhale a long breath. “I found Lucy Whitmore.”

Hunter’s head snaps in my direction, but no one else seems surprised.

“Lucy Whitmore never went missing. Ernestine Whitmore did. I didn’t know that until after I returned back home. I was watching one of Ernestine’s old movies and noticed that she was right-handed. Lucy, as shown in her journals, was left-handed. The woman I brunched with, who signed a fan’s autograph, was also left-handed.”

Again, the only person that looks at all surprised by my revelation is Hunter.

Poor Hunter.

I continue with, “Chet Inglewood poisoned her before she was taken into FBI custody, and that is where I believe she died.”

“That can’t be right,” Hunter finally says, shaking his head forcefully. “My mother is right here…”

Rand places a hand on the lap of the woman who had been posing as his wife. “It is and I’m sorry.”

“But…I don’t understand,” Hunter mutters in a daze.

“Let me set the stage for you,” Jim says. “Twenty-four years ago, Ernestine Whitmore perished in FBI custody, though at the time we believed her to be Lucy. She was being held for questioning, but she barely made it through the door before getting sick and eventually dying. It was believed she was poisoned during lunch, but we could never figure out who she had lunch with.”