Chapter 9
Wes, and Jake arrived at my place an hour after I called them, and for once I was grateful to see their ugly mugs. I knew Wes had gone through the files on that flash drive already, I would have. What we needed now was to discuss what he found. He already knew everything about me, but I was still nervous. What if there was something in there about my part in Zoe's kidnapping? I knew he'd never forgive me if there was.
I left the door unlocked, so they could just come right in. When they rounded the corner, I was waiting at the kitchen table for them, my wheel chair in the corner. I was tired of the damn thing. I could tell by the look on my brother's face that he was pissed, but I ignored it. I slid my laptop towards him, and he reluctantly sat down. “Well?” I asked.
He pulled the flash drive from his pocket, and inserted it into the laptop. “She has files on everyone. Judges, police officers, government officials, you name it. From what I gather, they were all her clients at some point in time, and she kept blackmail folders on them in case she ever got into trouble.”
“Why come after the flash drive now? Why not send someone when she originally got arrested? Why do any time at all?” I asked.
“She was protecting Robert Drake.” Jake chimed in, sliding a folder over to me.
I opened it up, shocked at its contents. There were dozens of photos of the two together. Laughing, smiling, hugging, kissing, all in different locations. There were even some lewd photos. “He was her fall guy, I don't understand?”
“He was released days after she was arrested, but it never made the news.”
“So how'd you find these photos? They look recent?”
Wes laughed. “Have you met Jake?” He asked sarcastically. “This guy can find anything about anyone.”
“I just have a lot of friends.” Jake said, modestly.
“Do we know where Drake is now?” I asked.
“No. These were taken a few weeks ago.”
“A few weeks ago? Were you planning on telling me you were looking for her?”
“She kidnapped my wife Cole, why the fuck wouldn't we be looking for her? And look what the crazy bitch just did to you. She could have killed you!” Wes said, standing with anger. “The fucking cops can't find her, I thought maybe someone Jake knew could.”
“You're right.” I said, placing my head in my hands, and taking a deep breath. “Look, while you're both here, and I'm injured, I need to tell you something.” I decided that it was time to come clean.
Jake, and Wes exchanged looks of confusion, before returning their attention back to me. It was now or never, and I much rather would have waited until never. Maybe I should wait until Harper's home, they won't kill me in front of her. Maybe. I opened my mouth, but I couldn't get the words to come out. How could I tell Zoe's husband, and brother, that I practically handed her over to Vanessa?
“Cole?” Wes asked, breaking me away from my thoughts. “What is it?”
“It was my fault. Zoe being kidnapped, was all my fault.”
“What are you saying? You helped save her Cole, how is Vanessa going off the rails your fault?”
“Let me get this out.” I sighed, closing my eyes, searching for the courage I needed. “The night I met Vanessa at the bar, we were getting to know each other. I told her I had a brother, and then I told her about Zoe. Where she worked, the kind of car she drove, details that at the time I didn't think were important. I'm the reason she was able to get to Zoe.”
I sat there in silence waiting for one of them to get up and toss the table, scream, yell, something, but nothing happened. I thought about speaking again, but Jake placed his hand over my wrist, stopping me. “I can't speak for Wes, but I'm only grateful that you saved her. You had no way of knowing who Vanessa was, or that she had some kind of vendetta.”
“You've done a lot of stupid shit Cole, but you saved all of our asses in that house. It doesn't matter how we got there, it matters that when I needed you, you were there.”
“I really thought you guys would hate me when I told you.”
“Look, we've got more important problems right now. Vanessa's on the loose, with Robert Drake, and a cool million you had stashed in your damn apartment. Let's focus on that, as far as I'm concerned, Zoe can kick your ass later.”
“Fair enough.” I said, scratching my head in thought. “So? When are we handing this information over to the police?”
“I don't think we can.”
“What do you mean you don't think we can?”
“If we give this flash drive to the police they'll know everything. Your past, mine, the money you took from Vanessa. We can't risk that.”
“So alter it.”
“Any good tech guy can retrieve deleted files from a flash drive, and considering the kinds of tech guys the police use, they'd know it was tampered with the minute they plugged it in.” Jake said.
“So what are we supposed to do now?”
Jake stood, running his hands through his hair. “I'm going to go to the police station. I'll tell them I was worried about my sister's safety, so I hired a PI. I'll turn over the photos of Vanessa, and Robert Drake, maybe that will help them with some kind of lead.”
“And in the meantime?” I asked.
“We keep our guards up.” Wes said. “And it wouldn't be a bad idea to hire a body guard for Harper.”
“I've already mentioned it to her, but she's being pretty stubborn about it.”
“Well don't let her be.”
“Yeah? And how does that work with Zoe?”
Jake laughed, and Wes flipped him off. “Just figure it out.” He said, with annoyance. “You need anything before we take off?”
“Not unless you brought beer. It seems Harper cleaned out the fridge.”
“You shouldn't be drinking anyway, you've got a damn concussion.”
Jake laughed again, only pissing Wes off more. “Do you ever know when to shut the fuck up brother?”
“Quit acting like a fucking idiot, and I'd have no reason to laugh.”
“If you girls are done arguing, I'd like to get back to some peace and quiet before Harper gets home.”
“I'm telling her you said that.” Wes said, standing and placing the flash drive back into his pocket.
“Fuck you.”
“You're not my type princess.” He winked, blowing me a kiss.
“Get the fuck out of here!”
“Later man.”
“Later.”