“I’m telling you guys, it’s completely crazy! It’s nothing like what it was when you left, like, not even close.”

“Geez, Finnley, it sure doesn’t sound like it. I know we’ve already kind of been down this road, but have you ever considered maybe just leaving?”

“Clara, come on.”

“No, seriously, Finnley, just listen to me for a minute,” Clara said determinedly, using more force than was characteristic for her and causing both Finnley and Elsie to shut up and listen. “Things aren’t right here. You know that, right?”

“Sure, I know that. Why do you think I’m talking to the two of you?”

“But I don’t just mean that it’s a negative turn for Cubed to take. A lot of what you’re telling me sounds like it could be at least borderline illegal.”

“Borderline?” Elsie scoffed, rolling her eyes and making it very clear where she stood. “I think it’s a lot more that borderline, don’t you? I wasn’t there for this weird conference thing, but it sounds like the new boss man all but put it all right out there on the table, right?”

“What do you mean, all out there on the table?”

“I mean he made it clear that your new job is going to be digging into people’s personal lives until you find something Mr. Wallace can use. Do you realize how deep that digging may go?”

“I have a pretty uncomfortable idea of it, yeah.”

“He’s telling you that you’re going to be hacking into people’s information, Finnley, and he’s going to use whatever you give him to make money. I wouldn’t be surprised if he came up with a front to cover the business and what it’s really doing.”

“I think you may be right there. I think he’s going to be marketing us as some new gossip magazine. I overheard him talking about hiring some stupid writers, just to make sure that everything looks like it’s on the ‘up and up.’ That’s not something a normal person has to say, right?”

“Exactly!” Clara hollered. “That’s exactly what I’m getting at! He’s setting you guys up to do some majorly illegal things, and he’s already bumping up your salary to make sure you don’t complain about it. This is how these things start, right?”

“These things?” Elsie laughed, tousling Clara’s head affectionately and retrieving the bottle of wine from her dining table to give them all a refill. “You make it sound like this is something that happens every day. Have you been a part of a whole lot of billionaires creating fronts for illegal companies?”

“No, not exactly that, but I’ve definitely been an unwilling part of criminal activity, and so have you, Elsie. It happens more than most people want to admit to themselves, and it’s happening now.”

“Right,” Finnley said defensively, feeling very much like an outsider in her little group of friends and hating it, “and neither one of you just turned and ran off in the opposite direction, did you?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean with both of you, you must have had a hundred different opportunities to get out of the situations you found yourselves in. You can’t tell me that you didn’t.”

“Okay, maybe, but—”

“Exactly, okay. So if neither one of you took the opportunities you found to cut loose from the bizarro scenarios you wound up in, how could you tell me to just turn and bail? How can you tell me to do something that neither of you were willing to do yourselves?”

Without meaning to, Finnley had launched into her very own speech. The only thing she was missing was a soapbox to stand upon. If she’s had that, the image she was painting of herself would have been complete. She had actually gotten to her feet, as if to do so would make her friends more inclined to believe her. Instead, they were both staring up at her like she had come totally unhinged or something. She saw a hesitation in their faces, maybe even a fear that she wasn’t all there any longer, which would mean she wasn’t able to make good decisions for herself.

“Guys, please,” she said as levelly as she could manage, trying to ignore how white the knuckles gripping the table were. “All I want is for you guys to treat me with the same respect you treated each other with when the both of you were going through your weird times.”

“Finnley,” Clara said gently, “you should know that we weren’t keen on any of this stuff with each other either. You were there, remember? It’s not like we were all about it with each other and now with you we’re trying to keep you under wraps. We only want you to be safe, the same way we wanted each other to be safe. The same way you wanted both of us to be safe. Remember?”

“Okay,” Finnley sighed, finally sitting down again and feeling more than a little exhausted. “I get it. And I know you’re right, Clara. About the way you guys are trying to get me to bail, I mean. But you both know me.”

“Right,” Elsie said, smiling and shaking her head, “which means we know you aren’t going to back down, are you?”

“Exactly,” Finnley laughed, feeling her first hint of relief since this whole conversation had begun, “that’s what it means. I didn’t come here to ask you guys to talk me out of what I’m going to do. I came here to ask for your help.”

“What do you need?” Clara asked quietly, looking at her glass of wine instead of at her friend’s face. “Seeing as we’re not going to be able to get you to quit and walk away.”

“I need more information. I’m good at finding stuff, Clara, but not as good as you are. And besides, what is it you’ve always told me? It’s harder to find information about something when you’re emotionally involved?”

“That’s right, I have said that.”

“Exactly. I don’t think it should be me looking into this stuff. I’m not sure I can keep a clear head about it. About any of it.”

“Okay,” she answered simply, sweeter than Finnley could ever hope to be. “I’ll get right on it. It shouldn’t be too hard. I’ve kind of got a head start on the project already.”

“Oh, do you? And why might that be?”

“Um, because Weston asked me to? He wasn’t exactly thrilled with what we’ve already learned about the grandparents and everything. I tried to tell him it wasn’t right to go looking into the man’s history, his family’s history, behind his back. He didn’t want to hear it. He was pretty insistent, Finnley. I hope you aren’t mad.”

“I guess I don’t exactly have the right to be. I’m the one asking you to look into things now. And I know Weston is only looking out for me.”

“He’s only ever looking out for everyone,” Clara laughed, rolling her eyes affectionately, “so yeah, he’s going to do pretty much whatever that takes. You two be good. I’ll be right back.”

Clara gave Finnley and Elsie both a look reminiscent of those given by benevolent teachers the world over before leaving students who had the potential to be troublemakers. Elsie batted her eyelashes, giving the most innocent expression Finnley thought she was able to make. It was meant to be funny, and it certainly made Clara laugh, but Finnley could only manage a weak smile. It wasn’t that she didn’t think the banter was funny. It was just that she was so on edge over what information Clara was going to bring her. That, and there was still the nagging feeling that she wasn’t quite a member of the group anymore. It was a juvenile way to think, but Finnley was rapidly becoming clear on the fact that keeping those thoughts at bay was easier said than done. It would probably have made the most sense to just come out and say something about it, to talk to her friends openly and honestly, but she couldn’t make herself do it. She couldn’t seem to make herself say anything at all.

“So girlie, you gonna tell me?”

“Tell you what?” Finnley asked, genuinely thrown off by Elsie’s question. “I wasn’t aware that I was supposed to be telling you anything. Or that you were asking me a question, I guess.”

“Whoa there, lady,” Elsie laughed, a laugh that was easier now that she was so happily with Caleb than it had ever been when she’d worked at Cubed and been apparently irrevocably single. “Don’t get testy. I’m not trying to piss you off or anything. I’m just a little curious, that’s all.”

“Curious about what, though?”

“Plenty of things, but let’s start with our current situation.”

“I thought we were done trying to convince me that I should walk away.”

“We are. That’s not what I’m doing. Not even a little bit.”

“Well then—?”

“Then what? So glad you asked, friend. I’m not curious in anything other than the girlie stuff, the gossipy shit, you know?”

“Not really,” Finnley said a little too loudly, trying to ignore how hot her face had become. Thank God for the fact that the lights were down dim, or else Elsie would have been able to see that she was blushing from the roots of her hair down to her toes. Elsie had never been the kind of girl to beat around the bush, not the type to display the kind of sensitivity that Clara had. If she was able to get a really good look at how red Finnley had gotten, she would never let her live it down.

“Oh really? Okay, if that’s how you want to play it.”

“Jeez, Elsie!” Finnley laughed, her body practically shaking at this point. “I feel like I’m in an interrogation room or something! Have you been taking technique training from Weston or something?”

“Nope, don’t need to. I’m just curious, Finnley. What exactly is going on with you and Garrett Wallace?”

“Nothing! Who said there was anything going on?”

“Nobody, I guess, but nobody had to. I can see it on your face, and then you throw in the part about being too emotionally attached to the situation? Come on, Finnley, I’m not an idiot. Why don’t you want to talk to about this?”

“I don’t know, okay? Because I have no idea what’s going on with us. Like, not a clue. I feel like I would have a different answer for every day of the week.”

“Ha! That sounds so familiar it isn’t even funny.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean me and Caleb, duh. I was hired to pretend to be his girlfriend, for God’s sake. If you don’t think that made things blurry, you’re so completely wrong.”

“It’s just that he’s so infuriating!” Finnley finally let loose, her frustration reaching its inevitable breaking point. “He’s so all over the place! One minute he’s this near-perfect guy, everything I want in a man, you know?”

“And then the next you want to kill him?”

“Yes! Exactly! That’s totally it. And on top of it, I can’t tell if he really wants to be with me, or if he’s just passing time because he doesn’t have a girl in this city yet, you know?”

“Please. We both know that’s not it.”

“Um, do we? How do you figure?”

“Because he’s been here for how long? A couple of months? If you don’t think he can’t find a whole truckload of girls in that amount of time you’re deluding yourself.”

“Huh. Awesome.”

“My point isn’t that he’s got a bunch of girls, Finnley. My point is that he wants you. It’s not because there aren’t any other options for him it’s because you’re amazing. We’ve known that all along, and it looks like he sees it, too. That right there is a point in his favor, as far as I’m concerned.”

Because she had no idea what the appropriate response was, she said nothing at all. What was there to say? She was grateful when she heard Clara clear her throat, announcing her lightning-fast return from her information digging.

“Okay, girls,” she said slowly, looking at a collection of papers clutched in her hands and exhaling loudly, “there’s kind of a lot here, I’m afraid.”

“About Garrett?” Finnley asked sharply, her heart racing in her chest as if she’d suddenly been dosed with a drug.“There’s a bunch of bad stuff about him?”

“No, not about Garrett. That’s the good news. As far as I can tell the only bad stuff about Garrett is the normal stuff. Some trouble in college for drinking too much in public, that kind of thing. You don’t need to worry yourself about that.”

“Okay, that’s good, I guess. But then what are we talking about?”

“We’re talking about his father, the elder Mr. Wallace. Now that’s a man who has a whole lot of skeletons in his closet, and it looks like he’s tried very hard to keep them covered up. Paid a lot of money to have it done, too. We’re talking a lot of money.”

“What kind of things are we talking about?”

“You mean aside from the fact that his parents are still alive even though he tells everyone that they’re dead?”

“Yes, aside from that.”

“Well, first of all, he had a brother that died under very suspicious circumstances when the two of them were young. Garrett’s father was ten and his brother was three. The cops thought Mr. Wallace likely had something to do with it, but there was no proof and so the investigation went nowhere.”

“Oh my God!”

“Right? Then it looks like he made friends with some less than savory elements in the neighborhood, getting into trouble for petty crimes, that kind of thing. That part isn’t the biggest deal ever, except that it shows where he made his contacts with the mob.”

“The mob?! Are you freaking kidding me right now?”

“Nope, not kidding. I wish I was, believe me. He publicly distanced himself from them, but looking at his business records, I think they’re still pretty much pals. They’ve spent years making each other rich, from the looks of it, and Wallace has provided the fronts his mob buddies need for whatever they need to do at any given moment.”

“Does that have something to do with why his parents are supposedly dead?”

“I looked into that, too. I can’t be sure, but it looks like when Mr. Wallace first shot up to prominence his parents went to the police, told them they thought their son was headed down the ‘wrong path,’ that sort of thing. It was very shortly after that that they up and vanished off of the face of the earth.”

Oh my God,” Finnley and Elsie said at the same time, their faces pale and drawn. Finnley wasn’t sure what she had been expecting, but it wasn’t this. She knew Garrett’s dad was off, she just hadn’t gone so far as to imagine that he was actually a legitimate crime boss. For the first time, Finnley had to entertain the idea that she might be in too far over her head. The recent words of her friends telling her to cut loose and run kept playing through her head over and over again. The only thing that kept her from doing so was a stubborn streak so deeply entrenched in her that she could not disengage. That, and the knowledge that Garrett wasn’t in on any of his father’s illegal activity, at least not knowingly. She felt a surge of emotion for him so strong she would have given anything to have him with her right then and there.

“There’s one more thing, “Finnley,” Clara said hesitantly, “and I’m not sure it has any relevance to what we’re talking about.”

“You might as well just tell me. It can’t get a lot worse than mob ties, right?”

“No, I don’t think it can. And I’m not sure this is anything. In fact, I don’t think it has anything to do with that we’re doing. It’s just...what if it does?”

“Clara, you’re worrying yourself too much. You’re going to give yourself a heart attack. You don’t have to decide whether or not it’s relevant. I asked you to find whatever you could, right?”

“Right.”

“So if this was something that came up, something we didn’t know, why don’t you just go ahead and tell me? If it’s nothing, I’ll just forget about it. If it’s not, you will have found something else useful. Kind of a win-win, don’t you think?”

“Okay, you’re right. You might even know this part already. I just haven’t heard you mention it. Did you happen to know that Garrett’s father basically had his mother committed?”

“Committed? Committed to what?”

“To a mental institution. I looked into the facility, and it’s not like your average horror-movie institution or anything. It looks super nice, actually, but that doesn’t change what it is. It’s a mental institution, no doubt.”

“I don’t even know what to say to that. What kind of man does that?”

“I don’t know. Her medical records say—”

“You looked at her medical records?” Elsie asked quickly, sounding more amused than accusatory. “That’s very illegal of you, my dear.”

“Please, like you haven’t done that? You don’t have to answer that either because I already know the answer. Of course, you have. We all have. That’s probably why Mr. Wallace wanted to purchase Cubed in the first place.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s a small company, but it’s got the reputation of being a company that gets things done. Cubed gets things done that other places can’t because its employees are willing to make the hard choices. It’s just that we always did it when it was to help somebody in the past, not to help the mob make more money.”

“Okay, true,” Finnley answered, her skin breaking out into goosebumps at the impassioned sound of Clara’s description, “and for the record, I don’t care what you did to get the information. I just want to know where she is.”

“How come? Is this something you think you can use?”

“You’re damn straight it’s something I can use. I’m going to see that woman.”

“His mom?! You’re going to see her?”

“You bet your ass I am. Who would know his dad better?”