Page 108 of The Wrong Side of the Law

Chapter Thirty-Four

Gabriel

Imay be facing my office window, but I’m not really seeing anything. My eyes drift over the ocean vista without registering anything more than the fuzzy imprint of rolling surf and palm trees. The echo of Emily’s whispered goodbye rings in my ears in the sudden emptiness.

Behind me, the door opens and closes with a muted click. A soft throat-clearing follows, seconds later.

I hear the sounds, and I’m not ignoring whoever it is that came into my office. I simply can’t seem to force myself to turn the chair around.

“I’m sorry that had to happen.” It’s Barbara’s voice. Softer than the Barbara Randolph I’m used to, though. Gentler.

“Yeah,” I say. “Me too.”

With effort, I convince my feet to push the chair away from the wall, and it slowly spins around.

“It’s done, then?” I ask.

“Yes.” Barbara nods slowly. “Both of them are gone.”

“Right, then.” I sigh heavily. “What the hell do I do now?”

“You move on,” she says. “You select a new assistant. You keep the Narcotics Unit running.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“I know,” Barbara answers. Her face is still, but her eyes show sympathy. “It was always a risk, having the two of you working together, from an HR perspective. But I thought—Lisa and I thought—that the two of you might click. Of course, that was before all this with her brother.”

“Yeah.” I laugh, but it’s a bitter sound with no humor or joy. “We clicked, all right.”

“I could see that.” The HR manager pauses and cocks her head to the side. When she speaks again, her voice is far closer to the direct, blunt Barbara that I’m used to. “What happened with Mister Whitehall?”

“Hm?” It’s an unexpected question, but it distracts me temporarily from my misery. “I really don’t know.”

“There was a third termination packet,” she says. “If he had called me in, you’d have been out the door before Emily was.”

“I’m not entirely surprised,” I say. “I guess… the way that I explained things, he liked it. It was forhisbenefit. I was protectinghim. I suppose he viewed it as loyalty, of a sort?”

“That makes sense.” Barbara fixes me with an intense stare. “Don’t trust him, though. Never trust him.”

“Don’t worry. I won’t.”

“Good. I think you’re safe for now, though, and you may even be in his favor. Mister Whitehall sent me an email while I was dealing with… your former receptionist,” she says, her voice full of scorn as she describes Karin. “All the hiring authorization is in place for replacement personnel. Your assistant will be dedicated, not shared.”

“Thank you,” I say.

Barbara opens the door to leave but stops halfway through.

“Again, Mister Coo-Gabriel. I’m so sorry that it came to this.” She sighs, looking down at her feet. “So sorry. For both of you.”

“Me too.”

Jesus. How could this have happened?

Why couldn’t you just have trusted me, Emily? I’d have found… I don’t know what I would have found, but surely there’s something. Something would have happened.

But deep inside, I can’t find anger. Not for her. For the situation, sure, but how could I be truly angry at her?

In a way I think I’m angry at myself, wrestling with my own conscience. I covered for her. Was it the right thing to do? She’s still going to get caught, in the end. Would it have been better to let it happen now?

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