Flash Burned (Burned 2)

He added, “I’m not trying to be cruel, Ari. I’m trying to get you to see the very cut-and-dried facts.”

“There aren’t any,” I told him. “There’s nothing cut-and-dried about this Illuminati

bloc, Dane’s involvement, or the shady members. Nothing about this scenario is black and white, Kyle. It’s all gray area. Smoke and mirrors. Incredibly powerful people who have the resources to do whatever they please for their own personal gain. Except…”

I inhaled deeply, slowing myself down because I was jabbering a mile a minute. “Dane knew things. Enough to piece together evidence to prove these guys are corrupt—enough to warrant indictments. And even though a murder charge won’t stick, because he’s alive and Amano might be as well, they could still be charged with attempted murder, I’m sure. After all, there were about forty people inside that building they blew up. That has to equate to some serious prison time, in addition to all the other charges. Fucking with the IRS … you’re just asking for a lengthy sentence there.”

Kyle paced some more. Swore under his breath. Then he faced me and demanded, “Are these … shady members … so powerful they thought they could get away with bombing a hotel? That it wouldn’t be traced back to them? Were they banking on Dane surrendering, letting them win rather than evening the score?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know how these people operate—other than on a level that defies comprehension. They have billions of dollars to throw at something like this, a network of powerful resources. If Dane, Ethan, and the others opted to not come forward, the bad guys would get off scot-free, because no way would the police be able to peg the culprits. Likely not even the FBI. They don’t know Dane’s connection to Hilliard and his group. What lead would they have to work with, aside from trying to pinpoint who placed explosives in the lobby of 10,000 Lux?”

Though I suddenly had a very good idea of who that might be—the one person who’d had access to security systems, facilities, IT, and the grounds, because he’d been a self-proclaimed jack-of-all-trades. And a weasel in disguise.

Wayne Horton.

The son of a bitch who’d helped to set me up when Vale had kidnapped and roughed me up.

My blood boiled. I took several deep breaths, trying to steady myself.

Gripping the back of the chair, Kyle said, “What makes you so sure Dane is alive and he’s the one feeding the Feds or whoever information for indictments?”

“Because he told me he’d nail them legally.”

Kyle’s brow jerked up. “As opposed to…?”

“Beating the living shit of each of them with his bare hands.”

As much as it had horrified me that Dane had attacked Vale, the idea of him throttling these men was now an appealing one. Not exactly a settling notion, since I’d personally witnessed what he was capable of—how far he’d go to protect me.

“Dane knew things about these guys,” I said, my belief still strong that he was offering evidence, despite Kyle’s whole this cannot be happening expression. “What an excellent opportunity for him to push that evidence in the right direction, when everyone thinks he’s dead. The supershady would never see it coming. Dane’s totally blindsiding them.”

“Ari…” Kyle gave me a compelling look. Actually, it was more of blatant pity, but whatever. “If he’d made it out of the lobby, we would have seen him.”

“Unless he and Amano escaped out the back, toward the courtyards.”

“And what?” Kyle all but growled, angry again. “You honestly believe he’d allow you to think, all this time, that he was dead? To grieve for him and—”

“No. Of course not. I can’t explain the mechanics of this. I only know what my gut is telling me. Dane found a way to make his final push with the corrupt members. He’d never want me to suffer in the process, so I have to believe there’s a reasonable explanation. I know it in my heart, Kyle. Everything he’s doing is to protect what’s his—that includes me.”

Dane wouldn’t leave me to suffer. But at the same time … He’d do anything to keep me safe. If this was his only way, what choice would he have than to disappear, no matter how emotionally destroyed it made me? Because if he actually could pull this off, it’d all boil down to a couple of months out of our lives that were sheer horror—well, in addition to the other period of horror following the kidnapping, when I’d broken up with him.

The blast at the Lux could have unwittingly provided the perfect chance to do what he needed to do, so all of this could end. Once he’d learned no one had died in the explosion and everyone had been released from the ER except me—and he’d know my dad and Kyle would be there to take care of me—Dane would be free to take this course of action handed to him.

As I contemplated all of this, finding huge relief in my logic and completely ignoring any probability that I was way the fuck off my rocker, I stared at the leather blotter in front of me.

Something was missing.

A grin spread over my lips.

“Oh, Christ,” Kyle mumbled. “You are so far out there. Seriously, Ari, we need to get back to my aunt’s and have your counselor come for a very long visit.”

I snickered. “I’m not crazy, Kyle.” Maybe. “I just noticed that Dane’s laptop is gone.”

“So, it’s probably in his office at the Lux. Or what used to be his office.”

I shivered at the thought of what the once opulent and pristine 10,000 Lux must look like today. Squeezing my eyes shut for a moment, I fought to compose myself. Then I opened my lids and speared him with a look. “Dane didn’t take his computer to work that day. We had too much to do downstairs. He only had his phone with him.”

Clearly, Kyle wanted to argue the point, come up with another reason. I didn’t let him.