Page 49 of Shattered Truth (Off The Grid: FBI #15)

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Three hours later, at a little past midnight, Matt came into the breakroom of his office, where he'd put Haley under the watchful eye of another agent this time.

He'd been in and out to check on her every twenty minutes, not willing to let her out of his sight for very long, but there had been a lot to do.

He knew she was probably exhausted and wanted nothing more than to go home and go to sleep, but he'd had to make sure they had everyone in custody before letting her go anywhere else.

She gave him a weary smile. "Are you done?"

"Just about. You can go," he told the other agent. "Thanks."

"What's happened?" Haley asked when they were alone.

He sat down on the couch next to her. "Henry Adler is in the hospital, undergoing surgery. He's expected to survive. His father, Graham Adler, has hired the best defense attorney in town for his son."

"I'm sure," she said cynically. "Those fathers are going to protect their sons, just like they did before."

"Not all of them. Kent Sanderson was stunned to realize that his son, Drew, was plotting his downfall.

The early moves that we were unable to stop hit Kent's holdings hard.

He lost a lot of money even before the algorithm launched.

He's not offering to pay for Drew's defense.

In fact, he's disavowing all knowledge of anything. "

"He turns on his own. Those families are sick," she said.

"Speaking of families…we picked up Jill Adler.

She was eager to make a deal. She's rolling on everyone, giving us all the details, all the players, including the moles in the FBI: Shari and Director Markham.

Because of the complicity of those agents and the LA field office, we're handling all the interrogations here, but we'll be getting some help from agents in our San Diego office. They just arrived a short time ago."

"What about Charles Adler?"

"Jill said her father knew about the algorithm and was positioned to make money when it launched.

She also stated that Trent had nothing to do with it and wanted no part of it.

She claimed she had no idea things were going to get so violent, that Brooke would be hurt, almost killed.

She also started to panic then, but it was too late to get out. "

"I don't feel sorry for her."

"I don't, either," he agreed.

"And Kyle Vance? Did he know his girlfriend was on the hit list?"

"No. He was terrified to talk after what happened to Brooke, but once we told him Viktor was dead, he opened up.

Drew and Henry were the leaders. Viktor was the muscle and was in charge of hiring mercenaries on the dark web, the gunman who shot Sabrina Lin, and the men who attacked Brooke Mercer and Justin Harrington.

We arrested Viktor's men at the warehouse, and some of them are giving us information on Viktor's operation as well.

We will take down every last one of his cohorts, but he's dead, so he's done. "

"Do you think you have everyone that matters now?"

"We have everyone connected to the algorithm, but, no, we don't have everyone from the Westbridge alumni system, who have been buying and selling favors with judges, politicians, FBI agents…

" He saw the disheartened look in her eyes.

"But we have a lot to go on. And people like this are always looking to sell someone else out to save themselves. "

"I hate the idea of any of them getting a deal."

"I know. But we want to arrest as many people as possible, and sometimes that information is worth a deal."

She let out a sigh. "I can't believe this is over, Matt. I wasn't sure we'd ever get to them. That we'd ever get justice for Landon."

"You're a big reason why we did," he said, meeting her gaze. "I haven't forgotten your brother in all of this, Haley."

She gave him an emotional smile. "I know, and I appreciate that, Matt."

"I don't know if we'll ever find out more than what we already know about the night he died, but I'll do everything I can to get the complete story and to make sure they all pay."

Her chest rose as she drew in a deep breath. "I'm sure you will. You've been amazing through all of this."

"So have you. Why don't we call it a night? This investigation is going to take weeks, not days. We need to pace ourselves."

"Okay," she said as he helped her to her feet. "But I don't want to go home. My place is still a mess from the break-in."

"How about my apartment? You have some clothes there."

She gave him a tired smile. "That sounds good."

He led her out of the office, keeping her hand in his as they made their way down to the garage and into the car. He knew they were safe, but he still didn't want to let her go.

As Matt let her into his apartment, Haley felt like she was coming home.

It was such a strange feeling, because she'd only spent two nights here before they'd had to go to the safehouse.

But it wasn't really the apartment that made her feel safe and warm and protected; it was the man in front of her.

"Do you want something?" he asked. "Water, food? I can't remember when we last ate."

"I'm not hungry, and I drank a gallon of water in the breakroom to get rid of the smoke in my throat."

His gaze moved to the bandage on her head. While he had been interviewing the suspects, a medic had come into his office to clean her cuts and make sure she wasn't suffering any damage from smoke inhalation.

"If I hadn't gotten to you in time…" He shook his head, his lips tight. "I never would have forgiven myself. It was my fault you got kidnapped. I shouldn't have left you alone for even a second."

"You had no idea they could find a way into your security system."

"Which needs to be better," he said with annoyance. "You should have been safe there. Apparently, someone in the LA field office who had worked with Flynn had the security code, and Rebecca Markham was able to get it from him."

"Are those FBI agents really going to be held accountable?"

"They've already been suspended pending further investigation. Replacements are being sent to review all the employees in that office. Apparently, the regional director has a personal grudge against the Westbridge alumni network. He went to USC."

She gave a faint smile. "Thank God! Someone who didn't drink the Westbridge Kool-Aid." She walked over to the couch and sat down, with Matt sliding in next to her.

She slipped off the flip-flops that Julia had given her while they'd been waiting outside the data center, having realized she'd left her shoes in the warehouse. Fortunately, Julia had had the sandals in her car. Which reminded her…

"Have you heard anything about Julia's condition?"

"The bullet didn't hit any vital organs. They stitched her up and sent her home."

"Thank goodness. I'm glad Julia turned out to be the person I thought she was, and that she wasn't part of Landon's case being shut down or anything that happened to me now," she said, turning to Matt. "You did make me doubt her motives."

"I was wrong."

"You were right to be cautious, but I am glad you were wrong about her. In the end, she saved my life when she called you. I'm just glad you didn't come through the front door a few minutes earlier."

"I wish you hadn't had to go through that." He put a comforting hand on her leg. "We haven't talked about what happened there. And we don't have to do that now. But whenever you're ready, I'll listen."

She turned sideways on the couch so she could look into his eyes. "I told you what Drew said about drugging Landon so he and Henry could set him up with an underage girl and then blackmail him."

"Yes. But the drug didn't render Landon unconscious."

"No. But it was disorienting. He stumbled out of the room, the fraternity house, and down the hill.

I guess he fell into the pond. I'm not sure if I'll ever really know if that's exactly what happened, or if Drew or Henry followed him and pushed him in.

The bottom line is that Drew caused Landon's death when he put that drug in his drink, but I'm not sure we can prove it.

Although, when I asked why the drug didn't show up in the toxicology report, Drew laughed at me and said reports can always be changed.

So maybe there's a trail we can find leading to that bit of bribery.

I really want Drew to pay for my brother's murder, not just everything else. "

"I know. We'll try to make that happen. It's not as clear-cut as I wish it were."

She nodded. "I understand. Drew also said that Landon had planted false information in his notebooks, that he'd made it harder for them to use the algorithm. That's why it took so long for them to make it work. Landon slowed them down, so we had enough time to catch them."

"Your brother was very smart."

She nodded, thinking about everything that had happened, especially one pivotal moment. "I really wanted to shoot Drew today, and I've never shot anyone. But I wanted him to die. I know that's not good."

"It's a very human emotion. You loved your brother, and Drew took him away from you."

"But it would have been wrong. I heard Landon's voice in my head: 'This is who they are, Haley. It's not who we are. ' And I realized he was right. I didn't want to be the same as them. I wanted to be better."

"You are a hell of a lot better, Haley. They're scum. And when we're done with them, their lives are going to be worth nothing." He reached out and brushed a strand of hair away from her eyes. "You look exhausted. You should go to sleep. We can talk about everything tomorrow."

"Are we going to keep talking? Not just about the case or my brother… " She licked her lips. "But about other stuff. Or is this over, too?"

A wary gleam entered his brown eyes. "Do you want it to be over?"

"No. And it feels a little scary to say that.

It hurt so badly when I lost Landon, I never wanted to get that close to anyone else, until now, until you.

But I know that this relationship, or whatever it is, has been forged in danger and adrenaline-fueled nights.

Maybe it was never meant to last longer than the case. "

"I have never wanted to get that close to anyone, either," he said.

"Watching my parents' marriage fall apart, feeling split between people who had gone from love to hate in what seemed like such a short time, made me cautious.

Love seemed like too big of a risk. It was safer to keep everything casual. "

"So, this is casual?"

He immediately shook his head. "That's not what I meant.

That's how I felt before I met you. But you are a force of nature, Haley Kenton, and you have broken down every one of my walls.

I have never met anyone who loves so loyally, so fiercely, who would literally die not just for the person she loved but for their memory.

I had lost faith in people over the past few years, but you made me see I was just not spending time with the right people.

" He paused. "I think we should see what could happen between us. "

Relief ran through her. "I think we should, too. Frankly, I can't imagine not seeing you when I wake up in the morning or talking to you before I go to bed at night. But maybe after everything calms down, we'll be bored with each other."

He laughed. "Not a chance. You and I will never be boring."

She grinned back. "That's probably true. Because you're going to keep working for the FBI, and I'm going to keep trying to put a spotlight on corruption."

"Seems like we have a whole lot more trouble to get into."

"And a whole lot more excitement. I think we should start now."

"You're exhausted."

"I'm…" She shrugged. "I actually don't know what I am.

So many feelings are running through me.

Relief, a sense of freedom, and satisfaction that people are going to pay for what they did to me and my brother, and what they were going to do to hurt so many more people.

But I also feel happy because we're together.

We're alive." She paused, then decided to put it all on the table.

"And because I'm falling in love with you, Matt. "

He sucked in a quick breath. "I'm falling in love with you, too."

"Then we don't need to wait for anything, do we?"

"Not even for a second." He covered her mouth with his, and the warmth of their embrace, their kiss, their love, filled her to the brim.

All her lonely feelings evaporated in Matt's arms. And as she kissed him back, she wanted to fill those hollow spaces inside him.

Apart, they'd been a little broken, but together they were finally whole.