“Mercer…” Talia ran her finger across a corner of the drawer. “It’s here too.”
I looked where she’d touched. I hadn’t been paying much attention to the edges when the lock was in the centre, but she was right. Carved into the wood was the same simple mark that had been left on the book.
“Shit. I’ll get in, don’t worry. If I can’t pick the lock, I can always jimmy it open.”
She nodded and kept searching around the room. The lock was a bitch, but eventually I got it open. A few papers laid in the drawer, held together by a single paperclip.
From my first glance, there was nothing about Benjamin. Nothing suspicious, even. I shoved them in my bag to give more thought to later. With the symbol and the lock, there had to be more to this drawer. Feeling carefully around the back edge, I caught my finger in a small hole in the drawer bottom.
It lifted easily, revealing a thin hidden compartment beneath.
There it is. That’s what he really wants to keep hidden.
The only thing beneath the false bottom was a single key, which I grabbed and shoved into a zippered pocket on the exterior of the bag.
When I’d put everything right again, I found Talia waiting for me beside a landscape painting, her finger tracing the symbol where it blended in with the artistic wildflowers.
Chapter
Twenty-Four
TALIA
The curves and lines of the strange infinity symbol gave me a sense of deja vu. It was familiar, and from more than just spotting it on Benjamin’s documents. There was somewhere else I knew it from. Somewhere I couldn’t place.
Chewing on my bottom lip, I traced the curves of it on the painting, desperate to know what it could mean.
“I found a key beneath a false bottom in the drawer.” Mercer gently moved me away from the painting. “Whatever it unlocks could be hiding behind this painting—if we’re lucky, anyway.”
I stayed silent, wracking my brain.
Wherehad I seen that symbol before?
I needed to remember.
Mercer carefully lifted the painting off the wall. Behind it was a plain safe with a single keyhole. He retrieved the key he’d found, sliding it into the lock.
It turned smoothly; a perfect fit.
The door swung open. Mercer grabbed a folder from inside, but before he could open it, I snatched it for myself. The firstthing I saw inside was a head shot of Benjamin in his typical style business suit.
Except, the name beside his picture wasn’t Benjamin Fryar.
It was Benji O’Connor.
That’s where I know the symbol from.
With the O’Connors vendetta against us, my fathers were always looking out for new schemes from them. They intercepted documents when they could, took copies so they could keep tabs on the competition while the originals stayed with the owners so they didn’t know we knew.
I wasn’t a part of that side of the business, but it was impossible to not see things every once in a while. While visiting Jurah in his office, I’d watched him close a folder with that very symbol on it. He’d mentioned casually that he’d been looking at the newest dealings from the O’Connors.
I’d never thought anything of it.
When I’d had a passing familiarity with the symbol on Benjamin’s folder, I hadn’t questioned it.
Slumping against the wall, I let the folder shut as tears beaded in the corners of my eyes. He’d been working for the enemy all along… because hewasthe enemy.
Benjamin was Benji O’Connor, and he’d been playing me from the start.
