Page 46 of Shattered Sinner
I opened the first drawer and found the usual. A few notepads, pens, paper clips, etc. It was as if it was his junk drawer. Nothing out of the ordinary there.
I opened the middle drawer and it looked to contain papers related to work, including papers like flyers for charity events he’d attended, books, etc. I was starting to wonder just how organized my father was.
I opened the third drawer and began to look around, when my hand landed on something weird. It felt slightly sharp but wooden, but I couldn’t figure out what it was just based on sight alone. With a heavy sigh, I pulled some of the files out of the desk so I could get a good look at the bottom of the drawer. I found what looked to be a secret compartment. Was it normal for desks like this to have this feature in them? Or had Dad had this put in for himself? What was in it that he’d wanted to keep hidden?
I shifted the rest of the things in there and pulled on the small latch of the compartment. It pulled open with ease and I saw a manila folder in there. There was a reason he’d hidden this in the manner that he did. I carefully pulled the folder out and took a deep breath before opening the can of the worms.
It took everything within me not to yell 'what the fuck' out loud.
Emails and statements dictating that my father had been paying thousands to something called Diamond Nights.
What the hell was that?
I grabbed my phone from my purse and did some quick research.
Diamond Nights was an escort service for the wealthy.
I wasn’t sure what to feel at first. My mind twisted as I struggled to make sense of what I was looking at. How could he do this? To my mother? To our family? To his career? Soon my emotions flipped from confusion to rage as anger bubbled up inside me. I knew better than to take my frustration out on the evidence in front of me.
The urge to call him and show him that I’d found all of this was here, but that wasn’t the point of this expedition. Instead, I used my phone to take pictures of several of the documents in the folder.
Once I’d completed that task, I made sure to put the folder back where it belonged and put back the items that I’d taken out of the desk. I needed to make sure that I made everything look just the way it had been before in order to not raise any suspicions. I then walked out of his office and up to my bedroom where I quickly selected a dress that I didn’t even bother to try on. If I did decide to keep quiet about this, hopefully the dress would fit. If I decided to blow the lid off this, whether the dress fit me wouldn’t matter much anyway.
I grabbed my phone and crafted a quick message for my mother.
Me: The dress I laid out on my bed is perfect for the party.
Without a second thought, I stuffed my phone back into my purse and left my childhood home.
I unlocked my car door and threw my things into the passenger seat. I now had the option to keep this to myself or force the downfall of not just his political career, but draw attention that would put my family in a whole different light.
I drove away from my childhood home with tears in my eyes, not completely knowing where I was driving to.
I found that I kept driving even when I should have turned my car a long time ago. But I ended up sitting in front of Soren Grant’s home. I was convinced that he held all the answers to Iris’s disappearance, but there was no way I was just walking up to his house to demand that he release her by myself. I was convinced that he could easily kill me if he wanted to, and that wouldn’t bode well for anyone.
Instead, I started my car and headed back toward my apartment where I could finally sit down and think.
25
EASTON
Darkness surrounded me as I walked to the spot I was supposed to be. While I wanted to show that I had all the confidence in the world, my stomach twisted as I waited to see what would happen next.
The night was silent, and it felt eerie because there was no reason why the forest should be quiet given what lived out here. A faint glow broke through the darkness, as if leading me somewhere. In the distance, I could see someone standing there, and I assumed that was where I was supposed to go. As I got closer, I recognized that it was Nash surrounded by torches. His arms were crossed, and his eyes were focused on me.
“Are you ready for your final task?” His voice was cold and hard.
I couldn’t help but wonder what challenge would lie ahead.
I nodded once. “I am.” I felt confident about what was about to unfold because I didn’t have a choice to be anything but.
“It’s time to prove your loyalty to the Chevaliers once and for all.”
“I’m ready. More than ready.” I wasn’t sure if that was a lie or not, but at least nothing would indicate that it wasn’t the truth to Nash.
A wicked smile appeared on his face and was only heightened by the light from the torches. “Excellent. We’ve captured someone who is a threat to our chapter and let them loose in the forest. They need to be eliminated.”
Eliminated? That word hung in the air increasing the tension between us that was as dense as fog. What the hell? But I stayed silent.
