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Brian Rice walked into the apartment scowling. He looked from Meg to Eli and back at his daughter with her tear-stained face.

"Daddy, it's not what you think."

"You don't know what I think. Did you betray your brother with my daughter?"

"No, unfortunately the truth might be worse."

"Worse?" He looked at Meg like she was three and cut her hair while playing with scissors.

"Daddy sit down, please!"

Eli poured a drink and handed it to the older man who had been his mentor for years. Meg was glad Eli hadn't even loosened his tie, although he reached up and pulled on it after he handed over the glass.

"Daddy, Tyler and I have been deceiving you and mom for a long time."

"What do you mean?"

"After we dated for a nanosecond in high school, we went back to being best friends. We never even had sex."

"All those weekends you stayed with him?"

She shook her head. "We both dated. Tyler more than me, but I did some."

"That boy has been in love with you."

She frowned. "I know that now. He told me the day after my birthday. I tried Daddy, but I don't love him that way. I might have gone through with it because he's my best friend, or was." She frowned.

"Why are you with Eli?"

"I'm not. He's helping me."

"How?" He looked from one to another.

"On my birthday, I met a man and Tyler knew."

"Are you pregnant?"

"No, I'm not stupid. I was with him, but he's been accused of doing something he didn't. I'm his alibi."

Brian looked at Eli. "Is this man innocent?"

He nodded. "The case is flimsy and reeks of a setup. The cops are in on it. Meg called me today because she is being threatened to stay silent."

"What? Who is involved?"

"Pacheco."

"The Maloney kid?" Brian looked at his daughter. "You were with him?"

"I met with a nice guy who hates his mother's husband."

Eli put his hands on his hips. "I was supposed to ask you about Maloney's words with Vinnie that night."

Meg looked at him and closed her eyes as she went back to the bar in her mind. "He left me at the table for one or two minutes tops. When he came back, he said the guy was with a young woman and he asked him if his mother knew. It was obvious he hated the guy."

"I've never heard of anything connecting him and his sister to Pacheco."

"You know who his sister is?" Eli focused on his mentor.

Brian nodded. "You might know her. Last I knew she was a criminal defense attorney, but she distanced herself from her mother."

Eli's eyes got big. "Ahern? No wonder she quit the firm to defend him."

"Cade's sister is his lawyer?"

Eli nodded. "She's a better lawyer than the opportunities the firm gave her."

Brian looked at his daughter. "I want to know about these threats."

As Meg repeated the story, her father's frown increased. "And you can prove Maloney wasn't involved."

"Yes, he was with me the entire time until the police knocked on his door."

"They came right for him and there is no record that he was with someone. Someone was covering their tracks. Meg didn't know about it until the defense baited me with a picture of his alibi. They didn't have her full name."

"Obviously, Pacheco knows about her and who she is."

Eli nodded to Brian. "I mentioned an alibi to my team and questioned some missing evidence."

Meg gasped. "They learned from you."

"Not your identity. The dirty cop must have given it to Pacheco. They went to great lengths to set him up circumstantially."

"You need to recuse yourself." Brian frowned.

"I need to get the DA to drop the case without the mole finding out."

"If he's innocent, the jury will do their job." Meg didn't want Cade to go through that.

Eli ran his hand through his hair. "Unless they get to the jurors. Meanwhile, they'll be threatening Meg. She won't be safe for months."

Brian's face revealed Eli was right. "Let me talk to the DA. Margaret, you are coming home with me. I'm not sure what we should tell your mother."

"The truth. I don't want to marry Tyler. I need to talk to him."

The minute they entered the house, Shannon pounced. "What were you thinking?"

"Mom, it's not what you think but you won't like it."

"You and Eli?"

"No. I don't like Eli like that, but I also didn't love Ty either."

"What do you mean? You two are engaged."

"No, I wasn't. You forced it when Ty and I were only best friends. Yes, he loved me, but I didn't know. I tried to love him. I really did, but it was like sleeping with my brother."

"What about Eli?"

"She wanted to talk to him about her dilemma." Her father didn't lie.

She added, "But Tyler showed up and jumped to conclusions. Now he hates me." Maybe that was the only outcome short of marrying him.

Her mother looked disappointed. "I don't understand any of this."

"Margaret, we'll talk in the morning."

Meg didn't question her father's dismissal. She ran to her room and called Tyler. No surprise he didn't pick up. She rambled about Eli helping her with a legal problem and added. "The truth I wanted to tell you was that a guy is stalking me and the reasons. Please call me."

Tyler would be angry because she lied. Losing her best friend hurt, but she had broken Tyler's heart.

Morning came after no sleep or word from Tyler. She emailed her boss she wouldn't be in. She couldn't work with Tyler hating her, a stalker, corrupt police, and Cade facing jail.

She went downstairs to face her parents. Her mother looked at her with a frown. "Aren't you working?"

"Not today. Dad, I don't want to put it off. Make your phone calls."

Shannon looked at her husband. "What's going on?"

"It seems your daughter knows something that relates to a criminal case which is why Eli came to see her."

"What things?"

"Dear, you know I can't answer questions about ongoing cases. Meg, come to my office."

At least she was Meg again, but she followed him with trepidation. Once he closed the door, she mumbled, "Dad, I'm sorry for the way things turned out."

"Sit. I'm not happy about making this phone call."

Because of his position, his call went through immediately. "Jim, Brian Rice... I'm calling about a problem in your department and a personal matter... It seems confidential case information is being leaked to Pacheco." Meg could hear the DA's denial. "How did Pacheco find out your team had evidence of a witness who will unravel the work he did to set up his wife's son." Brian smiled. "The kid isn't a criminal. He created some of the most popular games in the country."

Meg gasped. His father must have researched Cade's background.

"There is evidence." The guy yelled.

"Is any of it not circumstantial? Do you have gunshot residue or splatter? Come on, you and I can both recognize a setup."

"What witness?"

Brian cleared his throat. "This is where it gets personal. My daughter was with Maloney and this is where it gets fishy, there is no record even though officers saw her and her identification."

The voice on the other line sputtered. "What do you want me to do?"

"Arrange for my daughter to give her statement without Pacheco knowing. He's been threatening her to not testify. I don't have to tell you how important my daughter's safety is to me. Then I want you to look over all your evidence. Talk to Hathorne. No one else. You need to decide if you really want to ruin this young man's life. You and I both know the grand jury will indict a rock."

Meg couldn't make out the talking on the other end. "I'll wait to hear from you."

Her father frowned as he hung up the phone. "I'm disappointed, but I will always love you. You should have come to me and told me what happened."

She looked at her hands. "Sorry." When she looked up, he was still frowning. "You think he's innocent?"

"I've spent the better part of my career learning everything I can about men like Pacheco. I know most of their associates and enemies. Maloney has never been part of his business."

"But people who work in the DA's office and the Boston police are?"

"Unfortunately, yes."

"Do you think he'll drop the charge against Cade?"

"I hope so. How did you meet him?"

"At the hotel, I left the restaurant to find the restroom in the lobby. We bumped into one another and then later, he was at the club. The coincidence brought us together."

"And Tyler?"

"He knew. We were only best friends."

"But that changed."

She looked at her nails. She needed a manicure. "Yes. No. I tried but I just don't love him that way."

"You should have told me and your mother. I noticed you haven't been happy."

"Mom set a wedding date for us. She needs to cancel it."

"I'll talk to her. Stay inside. When I hear from the DA, I'll call you and send my car."

After he left, she looked at her phone and wished for a message from Tyler. Did Lucy and Emily hate her too? Mick definitely did. She had promised him she would not hurt Tyler, and that was what she ended up doing.

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