Page 73 of Where Secrets Lie

Hornbrook’s icy-blue eyes flashed. “What are you talking about?”

Hez fought to keep his tone calm and confident. “Your MO appears to be to invite people to your office for a negotiation, present an offer, and then leave while the other side discusses it. Then you eavesdrop on their conversation and use it againstthem. You sometimes even blackmail people with the recordings. Those are felonies under New York law.”

“That’s a lie.” Hornbrook’s voice was flat and cold. “Who told you that?”

Bruno raised his hand. “Your video surveillance system has garbage security, BTW.”

Boswell gave a predatory smile. “Hacking is a federal felony, and I happen to be friends with the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. And yes, your confession was just recorded.”

Bruno rolled his eyes. “Don’t bother calling him. He’ll just refer it to the FBI, and the Bureau will send it to their Cyber Division. My name will get flagged there, and your complaint will get routed to Special Agent Martin Lee. So just call Martin and say you want to make a complaint about Bruno Rubinelli. I’ve got his direct dial in my phone if you need it.”

Boswell’s grin faltered. His mouth opened and closed.

“Oh, one other thing,” Bruno said. “Martin will probably have some questions about exactly what I was hacking ’n’ why, so you know, you should be ready to talk about that.”

Hornbrook brought his right palm down on the table. “Enough of these games!” His gaze flickered to a spot behind Hez. A soft swish of fabric indicated someone moving behind him. “You have one minute left to make your offer.”

Hez took a deep breath and made his final move. “There’s one more thing you should know. We ran facial-recognition software over the entire video database and managed to identify nearly everyone you illegally recorded. We have emails or cell numbers for most of them, and we have a mass notice set to go out. If we don’t hit the kill switch by eleveno’clock, they’ll all get links to a database containing the illegal recordings.”

That was a bluff. The mass notice wouldn’t be ready to go out for at least another three weeks—which was why Hez had hoped to wait a month before putting his plan into action. If Hornbrook killed them now, he could stop it. But there was no way for him to know that—or so Hez hoped.

Bruno leaned forward. “Fun fact: a bunch of the guys you cheated are connected to organized crime.”

Hornbrook sat perfectly still for a long moment. A single bead of sweat appeared at his perfect hairline. “What do you want?”

Hez realized he’d been holding his breath. He relaxed just a little and finally made his offer. “Your company will forgive TGU’s entire debt and make a twenty-million-dollar donation. You will repay everyone you cheated, erase your video library, and stop surreptitiously recording people.”

Boswell cleared his throat. “And in return you’ll destroy the database of video you illegally hacked and stole from my client?”

Hez shook his head. “Nope. We’ll hit the kill switch on the mass notice and promise not to tell anyone about your client’s spying.”

“But if anything ever happens to either of us, the notice automatically goes out,” Bruno added. “Just thought you should know that.”

“We’ll need to discuss this.” Hornbrook looked past Hez again. “Take these guys out to the lobby.”

Hez permitted himself a small smile as he and Bruno stood. “I’m more generous with my time than you are. I’ll give you twenty minutes.”

The trapped, hopeless look in Hornbrook’s eyes told Hez everything he needed to know about how the rest of the negotiations would go.

***

Savannah’s pulse kicked at the sight of Hez standing on the curb at the Mobile airport. His jubilant grin told her more than his quick call on the way to LaGuardia. He opened the back door and threw his backpack onto the floor, then climbed into the front passenger seat beside her.

He leaned over for a lingering kiss, tasting of triumph and Skittles, and her head spun with joy as she clung to him. She kissed him back until a horn blared behind them and someone yelled out a rude comment. Her cheeks heated, and she pulled away. “I still can’t believe you saved TGUandforced him to give such a huge donation. My head is still spinning.”

“And here I thought the color in your cheeks was because you loved me so much.”

Smiling, she pulled away from the curb as he was buckling his seat belt. “You guessed right.” She ran her window down to let in the spring air. “It’s a gorgeous day. Let’s take 98 down along the water. I want you all to myself to savor the victory.”

His long legs stretched out under the dash. “Sounds good to me. I’m beat. The last twenty-four hours have been a blur, and I don’t think I slept at all. But even though I’m tired, I don’t think I could sleep if I tried. It all went perfectly.”

She listened to him recount the confrontation and Hornbrook’s reaction. “I’ll bet you were sweating bullets that it wouldn’t work.”

“Bruno’s comment about the FBI really rattled them. Everything changed in an instant. They realized we had an ace or two up our sleeves, and they suddenly didn’t want to gamble anymore. It was priceless.” Hez yawned and leaned back against the headrest.

The road spooled out in front of them, and the tires hummed along the pavement. The afternoon sun slanted through the window and warmed Savannah’s arm. She went quiet and hoped he might catch a few winks of sleep. There was so much to do now. News of this would hit social media immediately, and there would be reporters, professors, and students to deal with. She didn’t dare think about what the school would do with that sudden influx of money. It was almost too much to hope for.

On the south side of Point Clear, she slowed to catch a glimpse of her favorite house along this stretch of road. About the same time she spotted the round rose window, she saw the Open Housesign in the yard and gasped.

---