Page 42 of Shattered Truth (Off The Grid: FBI #15)

"Yes." Brooke let out a sigh. "One other thing—your brother really loved you, Haley.

I had to write a paper once about someone I thought was a hero, and I asked Landon for ideas.

It was supposed to be someone famous, and he said he couldn't think of anyone famous who had been more heroic than the sister who had basically raised him.

He said you saved his life. You were his second mother, and he was so lucky to have you in his life. "

Her eyes filled with moisture. "Thank you for telling me that," she said, then followed Matt out of the room.

"That was more helpful than I expected," Matt said as they left the hospital and got into his car, which he'd left with the valet right outside the front door.

"It was," she said as she fastened her seatbelt. "Brooke is learning the hard way that the people she loves might not be who she thinks they are." She glanced at him. "It makes me wonder how well we ever really know anyone."

"It probably depends on how much you want to know someone. Or whether the surface stuff looks so good, you don't want to dig deeper. Maybe Landon getting attention from a very pretty girl was just too much to resist. He didn't want to see that she had an ulterior motive. Who would?"

"You're right. But that's not me. I'm always suspicious of motives. I have a hard time trusting anyone after the way I grew up. Love has always looked deceptive, painful, and fleeting."

Understanding filled his gaze. "I've felt the same way. That love is always a risk, maybe one I don't need to take."

As their gazes clung together, she felt the connection between them deepen even more.

"But maybe it is worth the risk," he said, surprising her with his words. "If it's with the right person."

Her heart skipped a beat as they moved into dangerous territory. "Maybe," she agreed. "If it's with the right person."

He smiled as he started the engine. "Let's go home."

It was strange to think of a safehouse as a home, but anywhere with Matt was starting to feel that way.

Words ran through her head that she couldn't yet say, because maybe Matt was the right person for her, and she was the right person for him.

But she wasn't sure when or if either of them would have the courage to say that out loud.

When they entered the safehouse, Matt headed into the office while Haley grabbed drinks from the refrigerator.

While Brooke's information about Henry made him eager to see what dirt he could build on him, he wondered if that wouldn't take too long.

They were running out of time, and Henry would be a tough nut to crack.

Maybe they should focus first on a weaker player.

Haley came back a moment later with two bottles of water and handed him one. "I'm ready to find some dirt on Henry."

"I've been thinking about that. As much as I want to take Henry down, I'm leaning toward squeezing Trent Adler a little tighter. By now, he probably thinks he's being set up, either by the FBI or someone else. Maybe we tighten the screws."

"That's a good point. Brooke said that Trent Adler and Drew are on the outs, so maybe Trent would flip on Drew."

"I'm sure Trent will lawyer up quickly, but maybe we can get him into a more casual setting, take him by surprise." The phone rang, startling them both. "Lawson," he said, putting the phone on speaker.

"It's Jason. I've got good news. Derek opened Landon's drive."

His pulse jumped. "Excellent. What did you find?"

"Hang on a second; I'm going to move us to video so you can hear from Derek directly."

"Haley is also here," he said.

"Good. I'm sure she'd like to hear what her brother created."

"I would," Haley quickly agreed as the call moved to the computer monitor, and Derek's face appeared.

"Hello," Derek said. "I'll get right into it.

Landon Kenton developed an algorithm that was originally designed to protect investors.

It could identify and counter all the ways markets could be manipulated.

But in order to protect against market manipulation, Landon had to map out every possible way to cause it.

Every vulnerability, every trigger point, every domino that could be pushed. "

"And if someone reversed the algorithm, they could crash the market?" Matt asked.

"Exactly," Derek replied. "Instead of protecting investors, his algorithm could become the perfect weapon to destroy some people while enriching others.

It could trigger automated trading systems to create a domino effect that would crash multiple markets simultaneously while positioning certain players to profit massively from the chaos.

" Derek paused, letting that sink in before adding, "We've been studying market fluctuations over the past two years, and it looks like there have been test runs, four separate incidents, each one perfectly timed, perfectly positioned to maximize profits for those in the know, while devastating others.

Unless you knew what you were looking for, you probably wouldn't see anything suspicious to the dips, but when you take into account manufactured news reports or misleading reports, it appears that someone deployed the algorithm to see how it would work or not work and then refined it. "

"Can we trace who's doing it?" Matt asked.

"Not so far, but our guess, based on the incidents we've flagged so far, is that they're building toward something bigger, and it might be tied to the upcoming election in three weeks.

A market crash before the vote would create massive instability and could influence the outcome of the election, possibly even shutting down the market.

" Derek paused. "Flynn has contacts at the SEC.

We're going to see if we can put our heads together to track down which companies benefited most from the possible test runs. "

"This is much, much bigger than we thought," he muttered, exchanging a quick glance with Haley.

"I can't believe my brother designed something so powerful," she said, shaking her head in bemusement. "Or that what he built for something good could be used in such a negative way."

"Unfortunately, that's the story of a lot of tools, weapons, and drugs," Derek said. "If they fall into the wrong hands…"

"Then all hell breaks loose," she finished. "It's hard to believe that Landon's fraternity friends could do something so diabolical."

"I'm going to give you back to Jason," Derek said. "I still have some files to go through."

Jason's face appeared on the screen as Derek disappeared. "Looks like Sabrina Lin's murder was just the tip of the iceberg."

"I agree," Matt said. "And I think my former investigation into Meridien Developments is part of this market manipulation, which probably means Charles Adler is one of the main players. I believe my former partner, Shari Drummond, was working with Charles, maybe the new director as well."

"Speaking of Director Markham, she called me about twenty minutes ago. She wants to know if we have evidence tying Trent Adler to an old murder."

He smiled to himself. "I planted that false flag with my former coworker.

Shari was at the museum on Saturday, cozying up to Senator Matson, and I wanted to find out what side she's on.

She took my bait and ran straight to Charles Adler.

Now, I know she's on their side. Markham probably is, too.

The list of people with dirt on their hands is getting longer. "

"Well, Markham can't shut us down. Our team operates outside her jurisdiction."

"What did you tell her?"

"That I couldn't get into the details of our investigation. She said she expected a call back from Flynn within the hour. He's in San Diego, so I told her he's unavailable, but I'll pass the message on." He paused. "What's your next play?"

"I want to squeeze Trent, use my false flag to see if I can get him to flip on his friends."

"That won't be easy. He knows a lot of lawyers."

"I'm working on a way to get him into a more casual setting, take him by surprise. I'll let you know what I come up with."

As soon as he put down the phone, Haley said, "I have an idea about Trent. I can ask him to meet me."

"Absolutely not."

"Hang on," she said, sending him an annoyed look. "I'll tell him the FBI thinks he killed my brother, but I don't believe that because Landon said how much he liked him. And I need to talk to him personally. All I have to do is get him somewhere, and then you can take over."

He frowned, not wanting to put her in danger. "It's risky."

"Everything is risky, but we have to try. If they're going to use my brother's brilliant algorithm for evil instead of good, then we have to stop them, and Trent might be the key. I want to take this chance."

"We'd need to think of a place to meet," he said slowly.

"What about something near Westbridge? My brother used to go to a coffeehouse a few blocks off campus.

He loved studying there. It was called the Library Café.

It would be a place Landon would have told me about, a place Trent might remember from his college days, and maybe where he'd feel comfortable, even a little nostalgic," Haley suggested.

"It's not anywhere near where he lives now, or where the others would be spending time. This could work, Matt."

He didn't like the gleam of excitement in her eyes. "It could work, but you're telling Trent exactly where you're going to be at a specific time. If he's in the thick of this, he could send someone to the coffeehouse to get to you."

"Well, it's a public place, and you'll be there, too. We can do it soon. It's three o'clock now. It will take us thirty minutes to get there. We can set it for four thirty just to make sure we have enough time, but not too much time for him to send someone to find us."

"He could do that in an hour and a half."

"It's not perfect, but we have to try, don't we? And when we were talking to Brooke, she never mentioned Trent being part of the inner circle."

"Okay," he said, making a decision. "But I'm going to send an agent to the café ahead of us, and I'll have two more outside as backup."

"Can I call him now?"

He nodded, knowing his desire to protect Haley was overriding his logic, and he couldn't let emotions get in the way. "I have his number." After retrieving Trent's number from the case file, he punched it into the phone, then handed it to her, putting it on speaker.

The phone rang several times before a man answered. "Hello? Who is this?"

"It's Haley Kenton. Is this Trent?"

"What the hell do you want?" Trent demanded, anger in his voice.

"To talk to you," she said in a calm voice. "The FBI told me that they think you killed my brother."

"That's not true. I had nothing to do with Landon's death."

"I actually believe you. Landon told me you were one of his best friends in the house, and after he died, you were one of the only ones who looked upset about it. I can't believe you were faking that kind of emotion. It felt very real to me."

"It was real. Landon was a friend," Trent said.

"Would you be willing to talk to me? I might have information that could clear your name and get us closer to the truth, but I need you to look at it before I show it to anyone else."

"Tell me what it is now."

"It's something you need to see. I'm going to be at the Library Café at four thirty. I think you know it. It's right by Westbridge. It won't take long."

"Why should I trust you?" Trent asked. "Last time I saw you, you were with that FBI agent."

"All I want is justice for my brother, and I don't like the direction the FBI is going. I think they're listening to someone who might be trying to set you up." She paused. "It's up to you. If you don't want to come, we'll see what happens."

There was silence on the other end of the phone. Finally, Trent said, "I'll meet you there."

Haley let out a breath as she met his gaze. "We're on."

He wished he could feel as excited as she looked, but he was thinking like a man who cared for the woman in front of him instead of like an FBI agent, and Haley would never be truly safe and get the answers she deserved unless he started thinking with his head instead of his heart.

It wasn't a problem he had ever had before, and he was a little stunned he'd let himself get so deeply involved with her, but it was too late to change that.

He just had to make sure she stayed safe. That was all that mattered.