"And felled in the night, by the ones you think you love
They will come for you
Oh, to see what it means to be free
Of the shackles and the dreams
That you claim to see"

- Bastille, "Daniel In The Den"

Chapter Forty-One

My voice rang out in disbelief. "Are you kidding me?"

The confusion on Warren's face was quickly overtaken by defensive anger. He made to stand, but that was all it took for Reed to yank me back and shove Warren down in his seat.

"Don't do it," Reed warned.

"You thought it was me?" I was almost yelling at that point. "Why the hell would it be me?"

"Someone in your office worked with my brother and those other bastards," Warren spat. "Seaplast didn't even have a fighting chance!"

"And you thought it was an intern? You can't be that dumb, can you? What power would I have to do anything for that case?"

"Maybe you should ask your boss why you were the suspect for it," Warren snarled. "And if it wasn't you, then who the hell was it?"

My boss? Wait, Cruz? What would Cruz know why I was blamed for this?

The horrible, poisoning question of whether Cruz knew had hovered on the horizon, but now it sunk its claws deeper into my heart. Did Cruz know about the corruption? Was he part of it? And still another expansion on that painful possibility — was Reed right? Had I been thrown under the bus by the man I'd looked up to?

"What do you mean? What about Cruz? Did he know? Was he part of this?" I was furious and heartbroken as questions tumbled out in rapid fire.

The rational part of my brain knew Warren didn't have answers. If he'd known whether Cruz was the culprit, he wouldn't have asked me who else it could be. Hell, we wouldn't even be here. I wouldn't be here.

"Where the hell is my lawyer?" Warren yelled. "Let me go or arrest me!"

Simon's phone dinged. He glanced down at it, and a wide smile broke over his face. "Fine. Warren Cawton, you're under arrest."

The air was sucked out of the room in one solid whoosh. Warren was gobsmacked as bewilderment bloomed.

"Encrypted emails on your laptop can be traced back to this building. Our analysts are working on them now; we'll know soon who you worked with. We also found floor plans of Mr. Cruz's house," Simon said. "You know, they say don't be a criminal if you're not smart enough to pull it off. And you, Mr. Cawton, are severely lacking the required skills."

"You can't arrest me! Just because you're a wannabe cop doesn't mean you have any legal power," Warren protested.

"Actually, a citizen's arrest is perfectly legal in California when a felony's been committed. And you've done about a dozen of those, Warren," I said fiercely.

"I didn't do anything. The courts found me not guilty, and they'll do it again."

"Doubtful. There won't be any interference this time," I sneered. "I always did wonder how Seaplast was found guilty but you and your buddies walked free. Were there bribes involved in that, too? Did members of the jury get calls from your father? Because even with the AG's office working against you, you still walked away."

"The jury said it wasn't my fault. It wasn't my job to figure out the laws, so if they were broken, it wasn't because of me. I hadn't been involved in that side of things, I just handled the money and grants." Warren broke into an innocent expression before smiling. "The jury agreed I had no idea what Seaplast was doing — I was only trying to help the environment."

He was a manipulative bastard who'd portrayed a startled, blindsided executive in court. He'd played a heartbroken man who'd poured his soul into a company, managing payroll and keeping the lights on; an apparent advocate for nature who tirelessly worked for good — only for the company to get put on the wrong path without his knowledge. The jury fell for it, one way or another. Through money or manipulation, Seaplast had crumbled, but he'd walked.

And then he'd walked into Cruz's party and tried to shoot me.

Warren's act is up. He's not an innocent man who didn't know what his company was doing; it wasn't the 'unfortunate' actions of someone else at Seaplast. It was him. He just confirmed what everyone already knew, he's as much of a piece of trash as the plastic he dumped in the ocean.

Anger flooded at his ignorance, his greed, his stupidity. He was vile, heartless, idiotic, and so much more, and I couldn't put enough of my fury in my words. "You're wrong. It was your job. You and the CEO's job was to make sure the company was following the rules. You could have hired lawyers for that, but you didn't. You hired lawyers to fight your lawsuits, and to protect you for not following the law. You didn't care what got screwed up or who suffered as long as you got paid."

"You're overreacting just like the courts did. Not to mention those idiot researchers exaggerated. A little bit of plastic isn't going to end the world. It's a huge ass ocean."

"It's like he's stupid, is he stupid?" Simon asked, turning to me in alarm. I didn't think any of us could believe what we were hearing.

"Apparently," I said forcefully.

Something snapped then.

Warren lunged. Panic seared sharp and bright, but he didn't get very far. Like an invisible leash had broken, Reed surged forward and crashed into Warren. With an iron grip he pulled Warren from the table, slamming his body into the wall with the force of fury, a similar but slightly different anger than the type I held. Reed held Warren with an unforgiving grip and immobilized the red-faced man.

Adrenaline was suffocating the room, and my lungs couldn't get enough air. A lot of information was sinking in very quickly. A lot of fear was soaking my neurons. Warren thought I was the main point of contact for his brother, and tried to kill me for it. Who would've been next? His brother? Warren had gotten away with multiple felonies before, and admitted to it. I would do everything in my power to ensure it didn't happen again, but if there was someone higher up pulling the strings I wasn't sure what I could do.

Cruz could be the real person behind the corruption at the office. Cruz could have thrown me to the wolves. A politician I looked up to, someone I learned from, could be as corrupt and dirty as people thought politicians were. Not only that, someone at Greystone was just as dirty. Someone had worked to help Warren. Someone here in this building was currently walking free after helping orchestrate my almost-murder. And Reed just saved me again.

"Get off me!" Warren shouted, struggling frantically against Reed's unflinching hold.

"Find Quentin! Now!" Reed roared. Julian spun and disappeared out the door, looking as 'oh shit' as I felt.

"I don't know what your problem is, Fern, but you better let go of me right now!"

Fern? Oh my god, he's an idiot.

"His name is Reed Sterling, dumbass!" There were a lot more names I wanted to call Warren than just dumbass. But words weren't enough to convey what I was feeling. Betrayal, anger, rage. They all felt like clusters of letters that didn't give justice to the powerful, all-consuming swirl of emotion inside of me.

"I don't give a shit! Tell him to let me go!" Warren struggled harder but Reed slammed him back. Reed's face was cold, almost expressionless in his anger.

"Don't talk to her. Don't even look at her. You don't deserve to be in the same room." Reed shoved him harder into the wall. Simon stood slightly in front of me, watching his teammate. He trusted him to hold it together, but I was shocked. This was not the Reed I knew, but I couldn't deny it was a Reed I appreciated.

"Who told you she was responsible? Was it Cruz?" Simon spoke up, seeking answers and confirmation that were still needed. Seeking confirmation my life was nothing like what I thought it was.

"All I know is Cruz was more than happy to boast about someone named Woodsen's skills. How she coordinates with other officials. Telling everyone how valuable she was for working with other departments, conducting cross-agency research. Saying how helpful she was with this case and that case. Including the one against Seaplast." Warren shook with anger. "Then he's saying how she's going to D.C., and how she made all the right connections. Saying a whole bunch of shit about how she worked across agencies to seal case outcomes."

I can't believe this. I wrote a report. Then I got promoted to do it full time. It was my job. But I didn't work with corrupt officials. Not that I knew of.

"Maybe it was him, huh? Maybe it was Cruz after all. If it wasn't you, babe, maybe it was your boss who worked with Rich," Warren sneered. A shiver of revulsion wracked my body at the horrible nickname he threw out. 'Babe' had never sounded so gross. Both of the men around me looked like they felt the same, disgust clear in their expressions as they looked down on Warren.

"Knock it off," Reed snapped, his hold tightening. Warren restarted his fighting, having slumped down in defeat when talking before.

The door opened, and for the first time in weeks I saw Quentin Romano. He strode in, his face blank as he took in the messy scene before him. Julian followed closely behind him.

He found him.

"What's going on?" Quentin asked calmly.

"Thanks for finally showing up," Reed scoffed.

"Finally! Are you in charge? This bush guy—" Warren said, trying to shove Reed's hand off of him.

"His name is Reed! R-E-E-D."

"Yeah, thistle brush over here got handsy because he can't contain his bitch!"

"You're asking for my foot to meet your ass!" Julian threatened from the corner. Quentin's face remained calm even as the other three Greystone men tensed at Warren's insult. I hadn't batted an eye. It wasn't the first time I had been called a bitch, and it wouldn't be the last. It was an unfortunate occurrence for an assertive woman who knew what she was doing. Always bossy, never the boss. Always seen as a bitch, never seen as confident or capable.

"Call off your dogs!" Warren commanded. "And get me the freaking lawyer I've been asking for!"

"Let him go, Sterling," Quentin called out.

Reed didn't move.

"Now, Sterling."

Reed worked his jaw, his hands tightening to a white-knuckle grip on Warren. But after a few moments of tense silence, Reed slowly relented and dropped him. The cherry-red man tried to straighten his suit and reclaim his dignity, but as far as I was concerned he hadn't had any in the first place. Warren was a prideful, heartless man.

"Law enforcement is on its way, Mr. Cawton. They can have your lawyer called for you," Quentin said to Warren.

The CEO of Greystone then turned and left the room. Warren harrumphed and yanked the chair away from the table. He sat with a huff like a child in the midst of a tantrum. Julian and Simon wore matching frowns as they followed after Quentin. I was still glaring at Warren, but let a raging Reed pull me away. Quentin led the way back to the conference room.

He sat comfortably at the head of the table, looking unbothered as the rest of us filed in. Reed pushed his way to him, standing threateningly over his boss and mentor.

"Where were you? You were supposed to meet us when we got here, but no one could find you."

"I was held up, then I met with Derek. But it's truly none of your business where I was." Quentin was infuriatingly calm. Reed stood angry before him, and I stood hidden behind the other two Greystone men. I was a witness as a team demanded accountability from its leader.

"None of my business? I'm supposed to be your right-hand. Not to mention you were supposed to be assisting us in wrapping this up. But not only were you missing, you haven't responded to anything I sent. Someone on our teams is dirty," Reed said loudly. He was clearly exasperated with Quentin's nonchalance.

Why is Quentin acting like none of this is a big deal?

"And that someone will be found. It was speculation until the emails were discovered. I just checked in with Ramos. The analysts are working on it."

The door opened behind me. I turned and saw the person I needed to see. The person who owed me one hell of an explanation.

Derek Cruz looked thrilled and relieved as he stood in the doorway. Alpha team members could be seen in the hallway behind him — but Cruz did not look like what I was expecting. He didn't look like the busy, intentional man I'd known for the past four years. He didn't look like the frazzled, lost man I knew before I went on the run.

He looked well-rested and relaxed.

Is this because retirement is treating you well? Because Warren was caught? Or because you knew you were never in danger in the first place?

Reed told me Cruz officially retired a few days after I left. The world had to keep turning. He had been running his new business from the safehouse he stayed at with Amanda, albeit in a limited capacity. Even when the safehouses were compromised, I was sure they'd been put somewhere nice. Maybe this was just a break for him, knowing I was the one who was hunted. Maybe he knew it was Warren this whole time, and felt safe because of his actions ensuring I was the target — whatever those actions may have been.

Maybe he was the one Richard Cawton had worked with, and he threw me under the bus not caring if I got hit.

"Mr. Cruz!" I exclaimed.

"Avery! It's so good to see you!" He started forward eagerly. My hand snapped up and I took a step back. If it'd been a few hours before, I would've been very happy to see my old mentor. Now, all I could see was the possibility of a horrible, corrupt man. Cruz paused, confusion flashing as he looked from me to the other men, but no answers were available to him. Or to me, or to any of us. There were never enough answers.

The men turned to look at him as well. Quentin sat contently at the table and Reed stood like an angry wall in front of him. Simon and Julian flanked me, looking cautious and just as angry. I wasn't sure if they were cautious of what Cruz would do or what I would do.

To be fair, I am very close to hitting walls or tables again so they're not wrong to be cautious.

"I want to know why."

That time my voice did shake.

"Why...?" Cruz trailed off, confused. The roar that brewed, bubbling in my chest, was ready to be heard some more.

"Why you betrayed me and your office. Why you would let Warren go after me. Why you would do this to me. Was this four years in the making? Did you cover your tracks for years by using me as a scapegoat? Some escape plan just in case someone from Seaplast wanted revenge? So you could just point the finger at me if someone wanted payback?"

Cruz was speechless and my voice rose higher and higher.

"Did you do this? Did you work with Richard Cawton to ensure Seaplast would lose? Did you accept help from another corrupt government official? And for what? Money? Future business deals?"

"Avery, what—"

"Did you work with Richard Cawton to take Seaplast down?"

The next chapter will be very long (about 1.5-2x the length of most chapters). But it can't really be effectively split and will be the conclusion of this portion of her quest for answers.

Not the end of the book, of course, there are still some things we're waiting for...

- H