"We still have your brother's drive. When Derek gets that open, we'll be able to fill in the rest of the blanks." He paused as the oven timer went off. "Let's table this discussion until after we eat."
ChapterTwenty-Two
The pizza was perfectly crispy, and as they ate, it was relatively easy to pretend she and Matt were just hanging out, getting to know each other better, satisfying a different kind of hunger than the one they'd recently slayed. But reality was hovering in the back of Haley's mind, a reality she shouldn't ignore, but maybe for a few more minutes...
When she finished eating, she leaned back with a soft sigh. "That was good. Much better than the frozen stuff I usually buy."
"I'm glad," Matt replied, but she could see his mind was already elsewhere.
"You're thinking about the case," she observed.
"I keep going back to what Harrington told us about Sabrina connecting with an accountant at a legal aid office. We know that accountant was Anthony Devray. And we know that Sabrina asked Harrington about your brother's financial forecasting model."
"Okay," she said slowly. "Where are you going with this?"
"Anthony said he told Sabrina to stay away from Westbridge. But I don't think that was because of your brother's death. I believe Anthony saw a connection between Westbridge and the corporate fraud case they were both working on. I wonder if that's because he saw similarities between that fraud case and the case he brought to me, which involved Meridien Developments."
"Was Meridien tied to Westbridge?"
"I don't know. I never looked for a connection because I didn't know about the dangerous Westbridge alumni network at that time. If there was a link, it would make sense why my investigation was shut down. I need to review those case files."
"Can you do that from here? And can I help?" she asked eagerly.
"I can't let you look at an FBI file."
"Haven't we moved past the rules?" she said, rolling her eyes. "What if I just happened to see information on your computer screen when you weren't looking?"
"I don't think so, Haley."
"I want to help, Matt. And perhaps you could benefit from a fresh perspective."
She made a good point, but still… There were some lines he really shouldn't cross. "I hear you, but this is something I need to do myself. I will tell you if I learn anything new."
"Okay. I get it. And if you need to go down to your real office where you have more resources, I'm sure I'll be fine here on my own."
"I'm not leaving you now." He paused. "I should have put you into protective custody earlier, or at least after Brooke was attacked, but I didn't. That could have been a fatal mistake."
She could see the guilt in his eyes. "It wasn't a fatal mistake, and you didn't do it, because I wouldn’t let you."
"BecauseI didn't trust anyone else to protect you," he corrected. "I care about you, Haley."
"I care about you, too," she said softly. "And I don't just trust you to keep me safe, Matt; I trust you to tell me the truth. I can't live with lies. I have to know where I stand. I have to know what happened to my brother, even if it hurts like hell. I feel like every day, every single person we talk to is lying about something."
"I won't lie to you as long as you promise not to try to protect your brother's name at the expense of stopping this criminal enterprise."
She was surprised by his words. "Why would you think I would do that?"
He gave her a pointed look. "Your love for Landon is fierce. You weren't his mother, but you protected him like a mama bear. And there's a scenario where you might find out something about Landon that you don't believe or don't want to accept."
"I doubt that will happen."
He met her gaze. "I don't. Someone may try to spin whatever Landon was working on into something negative. You can't allow yourself to be conned or to make a rash decision because it looks like Landon is being framed."
"Do you think they'll try to do that?"
"Almost a hundred percent sure that's what they'll do. Who better to blame than someone who is dead?"
"You're right. Okay, I won't bite. I won't jump at a false flag. I'll be smart."
