Page 350 of Scarlet Wars
She took a deep breath. “It’s about Emma’s parents. You all think Maurice branded Emma a terrorist and gave the order to kill her parents.”
I arched an eyebrow. “Continue.”
“I have intel on that subject,” she said firmly. “And, unlike you guys think, Maurice didn’t kill Emma’s mother. He would’ve never laid a hand on her. I was with him when he found out she’d died. I saw his face, Caden. He was devastated. The kind of devastation youcan’tfake.”
I scoffed. “Maurice was a master manipulator, Cara. He played with identities like they were notes on a damn keyboard. He could cry on command and fool a hundred minds before breakfast.”
“It wasn’t him,” she said firmly, her eyes fixed on mine. “He didn’t issue that first arrest. The one that labeled her a terrorist? That wasn’t his doing. But when Emma killed those men at her home—when it became impossible to ignore—that’swhen he went to the President and asked for her arrest. He requested she be placed in his custody, and made sure the warrant was lifted after she saw that future of you two in New York.”
I frowned. “And you know this for certain...how?”
She held up her Nexus slightly. “Because he shared with me his memory of that conversation. And I just sent it to you.”
I glanced at the drops. The file pulsed softly, waiting. I didn’t open it. Only looked back at her.
“Well,” I muttered, “this is all very fascinating. But even if you’re right—even if Maurice didn’t pull the trigger on her arrest or her parents’ deaths—we still don’t know who did.”
Cara didn’t miss a beat.
She summoned another cluster of yellow drops and sent them to me with a flick of her fingers. I caught them, my Nexus absorbing the data like a breath being held.
“When Maurice found out Emma’s mother had been killed,” she said softer now, “he went feral. Started searching for answers. Quietly. Relentlessly. He didn’t find much...but he foundthis.”
“What is it?” I asked, eyes narrowing as the glow from my Nexus reflected off her face.
“The original warrant,” she said, quiet but firm. “The one that started everything. It’s signed with a name I can’t read. And a symbol beneath I’ve never seen before.”
She hesitated, then added, “All we could find out was that no human military was officially deployed. Not through any sanctioned channel. This didn’t come from the US Army. Whatever happened that night…it was off the books.”
I frowned. “Maybe one of the Chiefs was behind it?”
Cara smiled. “Such was my guess as well, but I have no idea where you’d find any of their signatures or symbols to compare it to.”
“I know it’s not enough,” she continued. “It’s not much at all. But at least you now have the original document. Maybe you’ll be able to trace it back to its author. Maybe you can finally give Emma the closure she deserves.”
I didn’t look away. “What do you want in return?”
Her eyes closed for a second, like she was answering a question she hadn’t dared say out loud until now.
“The hope for forgiveness.”
I studied her. “Did you offer a similar one to Walker?”
Cara shook her head. “I gave him something else. My men. The Radicals fall under his command starting tomorrow. He accepted the deal.”
A beat.
“Which means I get to stay.”
And then Cara did something so wildly out of character, my eyebrows almost rose to my hairline.
Sheblushed.
Actual color touched her cheeks. Cara Sinclair. Blushing.
“Holy shit. YoulikeJames Walker?”
She rolled her eyes and tried to brush it off, but the way her shoulders stiffened gave her away. “It’s a bit more complicated than that.”
