The call ends, and I glance around the sparse living area.
They want evidence.
Little of Dorian is in this house. He’s not someone to hold on to sentimental items.
He has your photos hanging on his office walls.
With that thought, I return to his office.
* * *
“Cara!”
The shout echoes through the hall with an urgency that sends me running.
“What happened?”
Dorian appears, face flushed, beads of sweat along his brow.
He bends over, breathing through his mouth, but his gaze stays on me, as if he’s confirming I’m real.
“You thought I’d left.”
He nods at my statement, hands on his waist, scanning the space.
“Are you digging through my stuff?”
“Yes.”
His hands fall to his side, and he arches his spine to breathe deeply.
“Why are you out of breath? You’re in good shape.”
He gives me a look that says he’d like to smack my bottom.
“I ran all around the house looking for you. Up and down the stairs.” His gaze falls to the files stacked on his desk.
“Did you find anything useful?”
“No.”
He exhales a loud huff. “All right. Let’s do this.”
“What?”
“Point by point. I’m going to prove my innocence.”
He swipes his brow, sits down on the sofa, and slings an ankle over his knee. With one arm slung on the armrest and one over the back of the couch, he’s the quintessential relaxed man. However, I’d wager he’s anything but.
“You mentioned the Baltic Sea wire cutting, attacks on electrical substations, and an EMP attack. Let’s tackle them one by one. Russian fishing boats were observed in the area. Only, the fishers onboard those boats were seen doing calisthenics each morning. They weren’t fishermen; they were Russian military. The world recognizes Russia is responsible. They’re testing and learning.”
“Right. No one suspects you’re behind those.”
“A beautiful thing.”
I roll my eyes, grin, and then focus. “The attacks on the United States electrical substations have been ongoing. Current theory places the blame on white supremacists or other small terrorist groups.”
“If you’re thinking I’d hire someone to take a shotgun and shoot up a substation, you’re wrong. And frankly, it hurts for you, of all people, to believe I’d do something like that. And why in the bloody hell do you think I’d allow an EMP attack that takes out my satellites? What’s the logic?”