Page 112 of Executive Decision

“There has to be a paper trail.”

“To even get his internet records or anything is going to be complicated. We’d essentially need a warrant. And then Scotland Yard would need to agree to do forensics.”

“You really think he was smart about it?” Lanie asked. “I refuse to believe you are helpless here. Delphines arenothelpless.”

“No, you’re stubborn as mules,” Chloe snickered. “C’mon. There has to be something. A guy like that is going to squawk to friends.”

“I dunno. I filed a report. I doubt it matters. The public will not care.”

“We do,” Lanie said. “Thefamilydoes.”

“Cal does, too,” Chloe said.

“Cal is fucking stupid if he thinks he should still pursue me. He should cut his losses.”

“He hasn’t,” Chloe said. “Dumb or not, the man is trying to bring you home. Daphne, he loves you. He got blindsided by the video at a press conference.”

“I called him dozens of times,” I sobbed. “I tried. He ignored me!”

“He’s been fighting with the DNC?—”

“Trying to save himself and put a bit of distance between us, Chloe.”

“Let me finish. Well before the video came out, he was dealing with the police union and the DNC. I don’t think anyone even wants to discuss his speech right now—he doesn’t. He does, however, want you home safe. He’d be here if he wasn’t trying to do damage control—knowing it will help you. Daphne, this will pass. The cops will catch the obvious person at fault here. And you will get to call out his wrongdoing on your day in court.”

“But if you don’t go back, Mum will come up here and I suspect Cal will, too.”

“She hates road trips. Derrick offered to fly her,” Lanie said. “But we figured we wouldn’t do that to you, sweetheart.”

“How did you know I was here? And how did you manage to find me sofast?”

“Dora Elizabeth looked you up on Find my Friends. You have yours turned on, dumbass! We watched you traipse up 94 and then 131. Once you got north of Traverse City, I knew you weren’t going to Sarah’s. We kept following you.”

“Shit!”

“Gen Z is out to get us,” Chloe snickered. “Thankfully, Dora only uses her powers for good.”

“I do not need Mum calling me an idiot. I’ll probably never talk to her again.” I sniffled and dropped to sit on the steps. “She can’t even look at me.”

“Mum is enraged—at Chandler and herself for ever defending him. She’s brokenhearted and just wants to take care of you. She wants to fight like hell for you.”

“That cannot be true.”

“It is. She keeps spinning her wheels worrying about what could have been if she never intervened at Sarah’s wedding.”

“And it’s not just her. Weallwant you back—that includes my dear brother. Even now, he’s gotta be pacing waiting for me to text him and say I’ve laid eyes on you and you’re okay.”

“It’s best if he never sees me again. I listened to his press conference while I was on my way out of the city. It was an ambushed disaster.”

“Why would you do that?” Lanie gasped.

“Because I knew when theMailwas going to drop the story, and I couldn’t help myself. I told myself it would tell me everything I needed to know. And… it did. He denied any connection to me like a very good boy. It’s best if we never talk again.”

My voice broke. I sobbed.

Chloe sat beside me on the stairs and rubbed my back. “You aren’t destroying his life. In fact, if you write Cal off, you’ll break his fucking heart, and I’ll lose my shit.”

I looked at her, tears running. “Chloe, this is complicated.”

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