Page 40 of Shattered Truth (Off The Grid: FBI #15)

Chapter Twenty-Two

The pizza was perfectly crispy, and as they ate, it was relatively easy to pretend she and Matt were just hanging out, getting to know each other better, satisfying a different kind of hunger than the one they'd recently slayed.

But reality was hovering in the back of Haley's mind, a reality she shouldn't ignore, but maybe for a few more minutes. ..

When she finished eating, she leaned back with a soft sigh. "That was good. Much better than the frozen stuff I usually buy."

"I'm glad," Matt replied, but she could see his mind was already elsewhere.

"You're thinking about the case," she observed.

"I keep going back to what Harrington told us about Sabrina connecting with an accountant at a legal aid office. We know that accountant was Anthony Devray. And we know that Sabrina asked Harrington about your brother's financial forecasting model."

"Okay," she said slowly. "Where are you going with this?"

"Anthony said he told Sabrina to stay away from Westbridge.

But I don't think that was because of your brother's death.

I believe Anthony saw a connection between Westbridge and the corporate fraud case they were both working on.

I wonder if that's because he saw similarities between that fraud case and the case he brought to me, which involved Meridien Developments. "

"Was Meridien tied to Westbridge?"

"I don't know. I never looked for a connection because I didn't know about the dangerous Westbridge alumni network at that time. If there was a link, it would make sense why my investigation was shut down. I need to review those case files."

"Can you do that from here? And can I help?" she asked eagerly.

"I can't let you look at an FBI file."

"Haven't we moved past the rules?" she said, rolling her eyes. "What if I just happened to see information on your computer screen when you weren't looking?"

"I don't think so, Haley."

"I want to help, Matt. And perhaps you could benefit from a fresh perspective."

She made a good point, but still… There were some lines he really shouldn't cross. "I hear you, but this is something I need to do myself. I will tell you if I learn anything new."

"Okay. I get it. And if you need to go down to your real office where you have more resources, I'm sure I'll be fine here on my own."

"I'm not leaving you now." He paused. "I should have put you into protective custody earlier, or at least after Brooke was attacked, but I didn't. That could have been a fatal mistake."

She could see the guilt in his eyes. "It wasn't a fatal mistake, and you didn't do it, because I wouldn’t let you."

" Because I didn't trust anyone else to protect you," he corrected. "I care about you, Haley."

"I care about you, too," she said softly.

"And I don't just trust you to keep me safe, Matt; I trust you to tell me the truth.

I can't live with lies. I have to know where I stand.

I have to know what happened to my brother, even if it hurts like hell.

I feel like every day, every single person we talk to is lying about something. "

"I won't lie to you as long as you promise not to try to protect your brother's name at the expense of stopping this criminal enterprise."

She was surprised by his words. "Why would you think I would do that?"

He gave her a pointed look. "Your love for Landon is fierce. You weren't his mother, but you protected him like a mama bear. And there's a scenario where you might find out something about Landon that you don't believe or don't want to accept."

"I doubt that will happen."

He met her gaze. "I don't. Someone may try to spin whatever Landon was working on into something negative. You can't allow yourself to be conned or to make a rash decision because it looks like Landon is being framed."

"Do you think they'll try to do that?"

"Almost a hundred percent sure that's what they'll do. Who better to blame than someone who is dead?"

"You're right. Okay, I won't bite. I won't jump at a false flag. I'll be smart."

"Good. I need to go into the office here and check my messages on the computer."

"Can I do that, too?" she asked. "Just in case Julia found something. I know I'm not supposed to be talking to her, but she doesn't know that, and she might send me some information."

"Sure."

He led the way into the office and opened up the computer, setting her up to check her text messages, but she had nothing new from anyone, which was disappointing.

After that, he did the same. "This is odd," he said, pointing to a text. "Shari wants to meet tomorrow morning. She says she has information that could help me with the connection between my case and Westbridge."

"That sounds interesting, but also like a possible trap. Do you trust her, Matt?"

"I used to. I'm not sure anymore."

"It seems prudent to be suspicious. But she was spending time with Senator Matson, so maybe she does have information."

"It's possible." He tapped his fingers on the desk, as he thought for a moment.

Then he turned to her. "When our investigation into Meridien Developments was abruptly ended, Shari wasn't nearly as upset by that as I was.

In fact, she said she could see why Director Markham didn't think we had enough evidence to keep going. "

"Did that piss you off?"

"Yes. I was angry and frustrated with everyone.

" He paused. "I need to go through that file again, but in the meantime, let's see where the executive board of Meridien went to school.

" He opened the Meridien website and ran down the list of officers as well as the board of directors.

"Look at this," he said, pointing to one of the names.

"Charles Adler is on the board of directors at Meridien. "

"That can't be a coincidence. What about your new FBI director?"

"Good question." He opened another tab.

She peered over his shoulder as he ran the search on Rebecca Markham, her excitement growing when she saw that Rebecca had graduated from Westbridge. "She's one of them."

"She is. But Rebecca is in her early forties, so she's too old to be tied to Landon's grade and too young to be tied to any of the parents, but she is part of the alumni network," he said. "Maybe she shut the case down because Charles Adler asked her to do so."

"And if Shari didn't care about the investigation ending, perhaps she has a connection, too," she suggested.

"Possibly. But I know Shari didn't go to Westbridge. She graduated from NYU. She didn't even move to California until a few years ago."

"Did Shari ever mention Adler when you were working on the Meridien case?"

"Not that I can recall. We weren't focused on the board, though, more on the top executives and their financials."

"In light of this, what do you think Shari wants to tell you?"

"I have no idea. She mentions both Sabrina and Westbridge, and I told her Sabrina's case might be tied to a death at the university."

"She was with Senator Matson the other day. She might have asked him about Landon's murder after you spoke to her." She paused. "What do you want to do, Matt?"

He thought for another moment, then said, "I want to flip the switch."

"What does that mean?" she asked curiously.

"I'll tell Shari I'll meet her at Café Luna on Third Street at nine a.m.," he said, as he sent the text. "But I'm not actually going to meet her."

"I'm confused."

"I'll plant a tracker on Shari's car so we can see where she goes after I call her and give her some information that will make someone very nervous."

She smiled at the sly expression in his gaze. "Well, don't leave me hanging…"

"I'm going to tell her I got delayed at work because we just found evidence tying Trent Adler to Landon's death, the death Sabrina Lin was looking into when she was killed."

"That's an interesting choice. You're picking Trent because he's Charles's son?"

"Exactly. And Landon's death is connected to Senator Matson, so if she talks to him or to Charles Adler, we'll know what side she's on, and we can use that to our advantage."

"She might not go in person; she might call."

"I don't think she'll want to share this information on the phone or in text. It's time to go on offense, Haley. The Westbridge conspiracy network is about manipulation. It's time we became the manipulators."

She gave him an approving smile. "I like your devious plan. In fact, I think it's kind of hot."

He rolled his desk chair over to her. "Only kind of?" he teased as he leaned in and gave her a kiss that set her body on fire. "We've done enough for tonight. Let's go to bed."

She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him in for another kiss. "I think the bed might be too far. How comfortable is that couch?"

"Let's find out."

Tuesday morning, Matt parked in the lot next to Café Luna on Third Street in Santa Monica.

"What if Shari sees you putting the device on her car?" Haley asked.

"She's already inside, and this lot isn't visible once you're in the café. Her car is just over there. Hang tight. I'll be right back."

She watched him walk casually past two other vehicles before dropping to one knee to ostensibly tie his shoe.

Before he rose, he attached a tracking device to the underside of the wheel well.

When that was done, he got back in the car, pulled out of the lot and drove around to the front of the building.

He parked in a spot down the block but where they could see the front door of the café.

Matt's tension was palpable, his enthusiasm contagious, and Haley felt more optimistic than she had in a while. "What now?" she asked.

"Time for the next step." He took out his phone and called Shari, using the speakerphone so she could hear.

"Matt? Where are you?" Shari asked in a stressed voice. "You're never late."

"I got hung up at work. We had a big breakthrough."

"Really? Into the murder of Sabrina Lin?"

"No. The murder she was looking into at Westbridge several years ago."

"What did you find?"

"An eyewitness, who also happens to have physical evidence that will bring down some very important people."

"That's huge."

"What did you want to tell me, Shari? You said you have information on Sabrina?"

"Actually, I wanted to talk to you about the university murder. You mentioned it might be connected to your current case, but I'm not sure my information is relevant anymore."

"Why don't you let me decide if it's relevant or not."

"I heard from a source that the police had a suspect in the death of Landon Kenton, a student who was angry at Kenton for not changing his grade when he was a TA."

"If they had a suspect, why didn't they act on it?"

"Apparently, by the time they heard about this person and went to speak to him, it was four months later, and he had died of an overdose after discovering his grades had made him ineligible to graduate."

"Do you have a name?"

"Jeremy Allen," she said. "Did your eyewitness mention him?"

"No. Our evidence is on Trent Adler."

"Trent Adler?" she echoed. "As in the son of Charles Adler?"

"Yes."

"Your evidence better be good. Trent's father is a powerful person with a lot of connections."

"I'm aware of that, but the evidence is solid, so I'm not worried. I gotta run. Thanks for reaching out."

"Sure. Good luck with everything, Matt."

"Thanks, Shari." He ended the call and looked over at Haley. "What do you think?"

"Shari gave you a name. We don't have evidence on Trent, so maybe Jeremy Allen is a good lead, and Shari is on the right side.

Her source could be Senator Matson. Maybe he wants the case to be solved now, although that seems doubtful.

" She sat up straighter as the café door opened. "There's Shari. She's leaving."

He opened the tracking app on his phone. "Let's see where she goes."

"What if she just goes to work? This whole thing will have been pointless."

"Not entirely. We heard what she wanted to tell me, and maybe Jeremy Allen is a lead we can follow, but we'll see what happens."

Within minutes, Shari's car pulled out of the lot, and Matt set his phone on the console between them so they could both see the red dot on the screen moving north.

Then he pulled out of his spot, heading in the same direction.

Because of the tracker, Matt was able to keep some distance between them and avoid tipping Shari off to the fact that she had a tail.

For the next thirty minutes, they followed the red dot through the streets of Santa Monica, Century City, and into Beverly Hills, driving past large homes, mansions, and finally estates with iron gates and homes tucked far behind those gates.

When Shari's car finally stopped, Matt parked just around the corner and put the address into his phone.

"Who lives there?" she asked impatiently.

He met her gaze. "Charles Adler."

Her stomach flipped over. "She's going to tell Charles that his son might be wanted for murder. He probably won't believe it."

"It will still concern him," Matt said. "And now I know that Shari knows Adler well enough to visit him at his home.

Damn. She had to have had something to do with our case against Meridien Developments getting shut down.

I blamed it on Markham, but maybe Shari was reporting information that wasn't true up the chain to protect Adler's company. "

"Or they were both in on it."

"True."

"Senator Matson could also be part of it," she said. "Shari has a lot of connections with the key players in our investigation." She paused, seeing the betrayal in his gaze. He'd trusted Shari. "I'm sorry, Matt."

He gave a careless shrug, but she’d learned by now that Matt’s indifference was often a mask for just how much he did care. He was probably also embarrassed he hadn't seen through Shari before now.

"What do we do next?" she asked.

"We divide and conquer. We continue to sow seeds of distrust within the group.

Right now, Charles is wondering if Trent killed Landon and might be in trouble.

We need to find ways to throw off the others in the group.

They've been working as one unit, completely on the same page, everyone with the same story.

If they each start to feel more pressure, they'll begin to wonder if they're being set up as a fall guy. "

"I like that, Matt. And I might have an idea…"