The Lies That Shatter by A.V. Asher

Chapter Twenty-Five

Three days.

For three days, Alec had to be near her and not speak to her.

The turmoil of her return hadn’t settled in his gut. So, he found himself listening to the exact tone of her American accent, the inflection she gave each word. The formality she was using on the stand was foreign to him. There was no hint of the sweet giggle or the smile that would play on her lips when she teased him.

But her hands gave her away.

The way they moved on her leg or on the armrest of the chair was all her. When the defense started in on her, her emotions were going wild.

Mercedes held her own, repeating answers and going over the evidence in detail. They hashed everything out over and over until Alec had memorized their importance.

When the judge finally excused her, relief was clear in her expression. Mercedes stood and walked from the room with her chin up and shoulders back. The last days had been brutal, but she was as composed as ever.

Noah Ramirez followed closely behind, shooting Jason a glare as they passed.

Alec had to hand it to the agent, he knew his job. More than once, Jason had moved to speak with her. Noah had shut him down before Alec could cross the room. No one came near her except her lawyer and Charlotte.

“Alec,” Cressida said. “Whitley wants us to meet in the big conference room.”

Kristin sighed. Guilt crawled up Alec’s spine. Things between them had been strained since Mercedes returned. He was a horrible companion and more than once, he’d offered to send her home.

“Can I come with you this time?” Kristin asked. “I don’t want to be out on my own again in case Jason is still around.”

Alec had been so consumed with thoughts of Mercedes; he hadn’t even thought about Jason’s earlier attempt to talk to Kristin. That distraction was dangerous.

Cressida answered for him. “Yeah, we’re wrapping up so Whitley shouldn’t have a problem with it.”

They followed Cressida to the secure corridor and into the conference room. Mercedes, her lawyer, and Noah were already in the room.

Alec hadn’t been expecting her to be in the meeting and his pulse quickened. She met his eyes for a second before she winced and looked away. He sat on the far end of the table. It gave him a chance to take in her face while Whitley said what he needed to say.

“This will be quick,” Brenden Whitley said, setting a leather portfolio on the table. “I wanted to touch base with you all and say thank you to Mercedes for her courage on the stand today. I know that was incredibly difficult, especially at the end. We appreciate that.”

Mercedes didn’t look up and made no acknowledgment that he had spoken.

“Those of you from the UK are free to go now. We won’t be recalling you and the defense has stated they don’t plan to.”

Alec stopped listening to take in Mercedes’s fingers tapping on the table. She was a wreck. The hazel green of her eyes drew him in, washing him in the grief radiating off her. He wanted to draw her into his arms and hold her until she quieted. To love her until that haunted look left her.

A sudden gasp caught Alec’s attention, and he popped his head up to listen.

Mercedes’s lawyer snapped. “Are you serious? Who authorized this?”

“My understanding is that it’s coming from the marshal’s office. It’s time for Agent Ramirez to go back into regular service.”

Mercedes’s stare darted to the agent, who looked just as alarmed. He gave her a slight shake of his head.

“This is a hell of a time to remove her trusted detail and exchange it with someone new, don’t you think?” Mercedes’s lawyer said.

Whitley shrugged, looking less than bothered by this. “I don’t see a difference. A detail is a detail.”

“You know damn well what the difference is in this case. Stop being obtuse. You have the power to fix it and keep Agent Ramirez assigned to her, at least until the jury has the case. You need to do it.”

Whitley shook his head. “I don’t see the need.”

Mercedes spoke for the first time since leaving the stand. “You’re going to make that phone call and put Noah back on my detail. Then, you’re going to insist any agent that was supposed to take the place of his team be removed from my case. I don’t want a single one near me. Are we clear?”

The directness of her tone caught Alec off guard.

Whitley scoffed. “I really don’t think you are in a position to be so demanding.”

“Oh, that’s where you’re wrong.” Mercedes’s glower spit fire at Whitley as she jerked a file folder from her bag. She flipped it open and pulled out a paper. “I’ve had a lot of unexpected time to research a few things. Let’s talk about this document here.” She slid it across the table. “Do you recognize it?”

Whitley looked at the paper and shrugged. “It’s the protection agreement you signed with the US marshals.”

“That’s right. I did sign that. It looks like I signed it not even two days after I was injured in the attack. I remember this day. You and the director of the marshal’s service came to my room and proposed the deep cover scenario. You couldn’t trust your own people, so you said it would be better if I was dead to the world.”

“I was right.”

“And I said I would do it, as long as two people were told the truth, which you both agreed to before you left my room.”

“I . . . I don’t remember our exact words.” The blatant lie fell flat on Alec’s ears.

Bloody hell.

“I do. And so did the nurse in charge of my care.” Mercedes slid another paper across the table. “This is a signed affidavit from my nurse confirming she administered a large dose of morphine approximately five minutes after you left. Then you unexpectedly returned. She warned you I wouldn’t be of sound mind for a few hours, yet somehow, you managed to get this signature from me, right around that same time.” Mercedes leaned forward and tapped the paper. “I would have been high as a goddamned kite when I signed that.”

Alec stared at Whitley, his breath held as he waited for his response.

Whitley pursed his lips. “What do you want, Sadie?”

The air rushed from Alec’s lungs. The bloody bastard had set this up?

Mercedes’s icy glare cut into Whitley. “I want you to look me and Alec in the eyes and tell us why you lied to us.”

Whitley cleared his throat. “Well, to be honest, we didn’t trust him or his team.”

“Why?”

“By Mr. McKinley’s own admission, one of Cooper’s operatives had already infiltrated his organization. He even had an intimate relationship with her. We weren’t entirely sure they weren’t behind the attack.”

“Bullshit. You know damn well they had nothing to do with it.” Mercedes shook her head. “It was a US marshal that led him to me, and it was her gun to my head. Your people, not his.”

What the fuck?They hadn’t been told an agent had taken part in the attack. What the fuck had happened at that house?

Whitley wasn’t relenting. “Letting his entire company in on this would have created too many loose ends.”

“And what about my sister?”

“If she knew, then her husband would know.” Whitley lifted his shoulders. “And we just couldn’t trust him not to share that with his cousin.”

Alec let this information wash over him. Whitley had been playing fucking games and destroyed everything they had. Mercedes’s tear-streaked face came to his mind, telling him she hadn’t lied to him, that she hadn’t signed anything.

And he’d called her a liar.

Goddamn it to fucking hell.

There had to be more to this. Whitley wanted them apart for more than just distrusting his team. Alec thought of what Whitley gained by this whole thing, and the last piece of the puzzle snapped into place.

“You wanted Jason,” Alec said, glaring at Whitley. “You didn’t hide her to protect her, you did it to turn Jason. That’s why you lied to us. If there was even a whisper that Sadie was alive and she was with me, he’d blow your case.”

Whitley said nothing, tapping the pen on the table.

“You son of a bitch,” Mercedes rasped out. “You ruined everything for that piece of shit’s sketchy testimony.”

“I need to win.” Whitley set his jaw.

“I know you do.” Mercedes said. “Because rumor is, you’re going to run for Governor of California.”

Whitley stiffened but didn’t deny it. Mercedes had gotten to the heart of it all. This fucker didn’t care about defeating Cooper. He’d been using them to make himself a household name.

And he’d tossed a grenade between Alec and Mercedes to do it.

Mercedes pushed one more paper at Whitley. “This is an opinion piece for The Washington Post that will go wide this evening. In it, I detail how you lied to me, to my family and took advantage of my incapacitated state to advance your political career. And I discuss how you orchestrated the media frenzy regarding Alec and my relationship, putting us both in jeopardy. I’m sure the California bar and the Department of Justice will be quite interested in the flagrant violations of your oath of office.” She sat back, a steely glare still on his face. “Oh, and I’ve drafted a ten million dollar lawsuit against you for violation of my civil rights and holding me against my will.”

Whitley’s head snapped up. “We didn’t hold you against your will.”

“But you did. This agreement is garbage because I wasn’t of sound mind when I signed it. And my consent hinged on Alec and Charlotte being told the truth. When you ignored that, my formal consent was relinquished. I doubt I’ll win, but it should make for good media drama right before the primaries.”

Alec watched her in awe. She was fucking cutthroat, and he loved it.

Whitley pursed his lips. “This is extortion, Mercedes.”

“Maybe. But if it keeps you and your fucking people from interfering with my life, I’ll risk it.”

There wasn’t much more than a brief pause. “What else do you want?”

“Well, I got the one thing I wanted, which was for Alec to know the truth.” She put her documents into her case. “The rest of my demands are quite simple, really. Make that call to your little conspiracy buddy and get Agent Ramirez back on my detail and tell him to remove anyone new. I don’t trust a single one of them. And I want to have protected visits with my family. If he balks, you let him know his name is on my shitlist too.”

Whitley nodded, his mouth pressed firm. “Alright, I’ll take care of that.”

“Good, I’m glad we understand each other.” Mercedes stood, hooked her bag onto her shoulder, and walked to the door. “Oh, and Brendan, you ever lie to me or the people I love again and I’ll destroy you.”

Mercedes jerked the door open and walked out, her heels clicking on the tile floors. Noah Ramirez smirked as he followed her out of the room.

“I fucking love her,” Cressida murmured. Declan gave a soft snort in agreement. Kristin shifted in the chair next to him.

Alec pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose. A numbness had settled over him. How many lies had come between them? And how many more were still unknown.