“If she made the first move, it was her decision.”
He shook his head. “She might have a moment, but I won’t be the one to make her break her vows.”
“Your decision, man, even if I disagree with it. But if she walked out without a word, there had to be a reason.” Archer rounded the table and pointed at the stacks of papers. “This all the information you have on Finch’s finances?”
With a nod, Liam skimmed the folders with his fingertips. “Yeah, it seems Catriona worked on it while I was gone. The papers were disorganized when I left, and she’s put them in some sort of order.”
His brother opened Catriona’s laptop, and after a few keystrokes closed it again. “It’s password protected. I don’t want to push it in case she’s installed some sort of fail-safe.”
“Fail-safe? She’s a financial analyst, I doubt she’s into that sort of thing.”
“Liam, Catriona Walsh is friends with Gabrielle Thorne, uber spy and assassin. I think you should stop seeing the woman as a nun and start considering she’s more than she seems. Stronger, smarter, and more in control of her destiny than you give her credit for. That’s not a wise move, brother.”
He’d be damned if he’d admit Archer may be right. The businessman hadn’t met her, he hadn’t seen the pure shining light of goodness in her.
As Archer started peeking into the files, Liam paced the room, trying to get his thoughts in order. Between his fear of where Catriona might be, his attraction to the woman, and the helplessness he was feeling, he was walking a very thin line.
“Glad to see your knee is better. You’re not limping as badly as before.”
At Archer’s remark, he stopped moving, assessing his body. It was true; as he walked, his leg didn’t pulse with the same pain as before. For so long he’d pushed the agony to the back of his brain so he could function, taking notice of this new level that had changed from pain to annoyance, stunned him.
As he was testing his joint, Archer started examining the files, or more accurately, the top folder, and within a minute, hissed. “You said she was working on the documents while you were gone? I may have found the reason she fled.”
Liam checked the papers Archer had spread on the table. They were copies of bank statements for an offshore bank, one he recognized as a potential place their father may have stashed money, and there were also scribbles from Catriona.
Immediately, his focus went to the amounts and he whistled. “Big money indeed.”
“You’re not looking at the right line. Check the account owner, more precisely, the beneficiary.”
Liam’s eyes widened. “Lazarus King. Fuck me, that’s impossible.”
From how serious his brother looked right now, Archer agreed. “I know it’s impossible. There has to be a mistake. I won’t believe it, man. Fuck it!”
Archer exhaled sharply, went to the wall, and punched it. Liam felt the same. It had been years since Lazarus had found them, one by one, reforming their broken and unlikely family unit, and there had been absolutely no reason to doubt him. Of all the brothers, he’d been one of the most dedicated in stopping Jamieson Finch, especially since he knew firsthand how diabolical and manipulative their father could be.
Archer appeared as lost as he was. “I don’t want to think this is a setup. That we’ve been played. It can’t be.”
They agreed, but this evidence made him uncomfortable. “Oz never directed us or stopped us in any way. He knew we were investigating the financial side.”
His brother agreed, but he didn’t look reassured. “I know. I keep going over it in my head. The only point that reassures me is that even though Oz and Gabrielle are tight, and she recommended Catriona as our financial analyst, that nun of yours bolted when she found that information. Most probably, she thought Lazarus was in on it, thus that we were as well. In her shoes, I would’ve fled in an instant, thinking that if she revealed this information, she’d uncover a bigger cover-up by us. I can bet she tried to call Gabrielle to get her feedback, but as she’s unavailable, Catriona did the second-best thing.”
Liam returned to the papers. “I can’t, I won’t believe that Lazarus is in it with Finch. Especially since he was caught in the line of fire and is in a coma because of that.”
Liam locked eyes with Archer. A lot passed between them without a single word.
Deep in cop mode, using all his years of experience, fighting for that logical path that enabled him to close investigations. “We have to go deeper and counter check this information. We gave it to Catriona, vouched for it, but be sure of it. If I had to trust my instincts, I’d say that this may be a decoy. A kind of divide and conquer thing. It wouldn’t be far-fetched with Finch.”
Archer nodded at his conclusion. “We need to find Catriona and have her check the data under that perspective. She never considered that. And we need that hacker now. If Finch is messing with us, I’m not going to play fair with him either, sorry Liam.”
His heart sunk at the possibility that he may have to step on his principles after all. Commotion came from the hallway, mostly the sound of a young boy cussing and screaming.
On high alert, both Liam and Archer went for their guns when Aleksei pushed the door open, gripping a young black boy by the collar.
“Cary?” Liam holstered back and stepped forward as Deva came into the room. “He’s the one who was playing with our keypad.”
“I wasn’t playing, dumbass. I needed to talk to you, cop, but that goon of yours won’t listen.”
It was clear Aleksei was about to sling the insolent youth against the wall, but Deva gently touching her lover’s shoulder saved the youth’s life.
