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Someone had stashed drugs in her office and now her fingerprints were all over them. There was only one person who would do this to her. The only question was, how the hell did he get in here, unless someone at Madigan’s was working for him.
A feeling of total dread washed over Skyla as her legs gave out from under her and she sank to the ground. Tears streamed down her face before she even knew that she was crying, as she saw how everything she’d worked so hard to build was going to come crashing down around her. No one would believe the drugs weren’t hers. No one would believe she didn’t know they were there. This was her office. These were her things. No one else was allowed inside.
After sitting on the floor of her office for who knows how long, Skyla rose to her feet and methodically replaced the box and its contents, along with the plastic it was in, back to where she found it. Then she spent the next hour cleaning up her office, replacing all the things that fell from the top shelf, making sure they were stacked exactly how she remembered them being.
Maybe this was some kind of bad dream. A nightmare, really. Maybe whoever stashed the drugs here would return for them and they’d be gone by morning. Skyla let out a slow breath, a spark of hope returning to the ever-expanding pit in her stomach. This had to be a nightmare. She just had to wake up. Tomorrow, she told herself. She would take it one day at a time and just wait for the package to disappear. Then - then she had no idea what she was going to do, but right now, she just needed it to be gone.
Drawing in more ragged breaths as she gathered her purse and turned the flimsy lock on her office door,she made a mental note to replace the lock as soon as the drugs were gone. She walked out to her car in a daze, not paying attention to anything around her in the dark alley behind Madigan’s. Getting in, she slammed the door shut, and let out a scream so loud, she thought the residents in the houses behind her might hear it, but couldn’t muster the energy to care.
Then she dialed the one person who was likely to blame for all of this.
“Get your shit out of my office,” she barked into the phone before he’d even said a word.
“In time,” AJ said. “And don’t ever call me again.” The line went dead and it only made Skyla want to scream more. This was the biggest clusterfuck of her life, assuming she still had a life after all this was over. In the meantime, she had to remember to buy some damn ink in the morning, so she could pay her employees, including the asshole who had double crossed her and allowed one or more of AJ’s men into her office to stash their drugs.
Chapter 14
“Why does everything always have to be so difficult with her?” Regina O’Connell complained not for the first time since Blake arrived to fix the leak under the master bathroom sink for the second time in as many months. “Your sister is going to put me in an early grave, and she doesn’t even seem to care.”
Blake had heard it all before, but he still indulged his mother and remained silent, only offering small nods as his hands furiously worked to stop the leak before it got out of control.
“I mean, it’s bad enough that she uses her law degree to help criminals, but then she calls home and defends her actions to me. And the nerve of her to ask for more money when all she’s doing is helping people who deserve to be locked away. Blake, say something.”
“I’m going to have to get a new pipe here. This one is too corroded. When was the last time you had a plumber come out and look at this?”
“That’s not what I meant, Blakey. I need you to talk to Brennan and make her come to her senses. When she said she wanted to do pro-bono work, I never in a million years thought it meant she was going to be helping criminals get out of their prison sentences.”
Blake wiped his soaked hands on a rag and looked up at his mom who was standing not three feet away from him, her brow furrowed as she wrung her manicured hands. He hated what his sister chose to do with her law degree more than anything in the world, but he kept his thoughts to himself. The last thing he’d ever do was stoke a fire that wouldn’t help anyone. Brennan had a mind of her own, and while he didn’t understand why she did half the things she did, he would always love her. And since this wasn’t the first time his mom had tried to get him riled up about it, hoping he’d do something that they both knew he had no power to do, he chose to give her the simplest solution he could think of at the moment. “Mom, Brennan doesn’t want my help, or yours. She wants to live life on her own terms and when she spends more than she makes at the organization she works for, she comes to you for money. When you stop giving her money, she’ll have to figure out how to live within her means.”
“Blake Donovan O’Connell, how dare you ask me to cut your sister off? His mother gaped like he’d suggested to have his sister murdered. “You think I could sit here in my nice house knowing she’s out there somewhere, sleeping God only knows where? It’s not like she’s an addict, you know.”
“You’re right. She’s not an addict. She’s a lawyer, hell bent on being a social reformer, who insists on being on the wrong side of the law and going places she might get hurt or arrested, or worse. The only thing she doesn’t seem to realize or care about is that everything costs money, even things like food and utilities.” Blake stood and kissed his mom on the cheek. He always came off harsher than he meant to when talking about his sister, but he honestly worried about her safety, and didn’t like that she’d chosen to go all the way to Florida for law school, because she was following a guy that she didn’t even talk to anymore, and then chose to stay there after graduating.
“Hey,” his mom suddenly said as he searched the large bathroom for his keys and wallet to go to the local hardware store. “Didn’t you mention something about your friends having a thing going on this weekend?”
Blake ran a hand through his hair. “Yeah, the Books and Booze event.” He hadn’t forgotten. He was just avoiding it. Mostly because he was avoiding Skyla. That kiss still played front and center in his mind, but it was one thing to be thinking about her, and another to act on it. The latter wasn’t something he could do. Not while working the case. And he sure as hell wasn’t about to blow another case.
Another agent had been filling in for him at Madigan’s for the last few days, and Vivian had offered to keep an eye on her this weekend in exchange for him doing some digging into that damn tip. Blake agreed, and was more than prepared to hand over a slew of files that had nothing to do with Hallie. But Vivian didn’t need to know that.
“So, how come you’re not there?” His mom asked. “It’s not like this is the only bathroom in the house, Blakey. It could’ve waited another week if you’d already made plans.”
He really didn’t want to get into this with his mom. “No, it’s fine. I don’t need a special event to get booze or books. It’s just a promotional thing.”
His mother looked at him the way she used to when she knew he was up to something.
“What?” He asked, a little defensively.
She shrugged. “Nothing.” She started walking away, but Blake put a soft hand on her shoulder. “Just say what’s on your mind, Mom. You know you want to.”
She sighed with a hint of a smile. “You hate when I pry, and I’ve been trying not to interfere in your life, but I just know my son.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“You’re running away. Again.” She shrugged like it was a given and Blake instantly regretted asking for her thoughts. He knew what she meant, but he would sooner be shot again than admit she was right.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. No one is running anywhere.” He hid the grimace from her words because he knew she was right. But this time, it was the right thing to do.
“Then I guess you’ll tell me her name.” She said it with such confidence, like she knew he wouldn’t, even as she attempted to goad it out of him.
