Up to Me(28)

There’s no mistaking the bitterness in his tone.

“I suppose so. You don’t seem too happy about that.”

“Why would I be happy that someone is pretending to be me?”

Temper flashes in his eyes. It gives me pause, but only a little bit. For some reason, with Cash close, I’m not afraid of him. I might be otherwise, but right now, I feel brave.

“Why would you not be? You got off easy. You have a law degree that you didn’t have to study for, a job you didn’t have to work for and a life you didn’t have to earn. Sounds like Cash has done the hard part.”

I glance at Cash. He’s watching me. He smiles. It’s wide and pleased. Smug almost. He winks one twinkling eye at me and I feel the heat rush to my face. He must be happy that I’m taking up for him.

Nash straightens and takes one step forward. My first inclination is to back up, even though he’s not that close to me. But I don’t. I hold my ground. “That might be true, especially if you don’t have a damn clue about what my life was like. Like if you didn’t know that I had to give up my entire identity and go to work for criminals on a smuggling boat. Or if you didn’t know that I could only come to shore once every few months. Or if you didn’t know that I had to sneak into town wearing a disguise, only to see my brother living a great life. My life. Yeah, I can see where you’d think I’d be grateful.”

Guilt washes through me. I don’t know what to say. I look to Cash who is watching Nash, his face set in hard lines. I glance at Gavin who seems bored with the whole conversation. Then I glance back to Nash who suddenly looks broken and bereaved behind his stony mask.

“I’m so sorry,” I confess sincerely. “I- I didn’t know. I just assumed…”

Nash’s laugh is a short snap. “Yeah, well you know what they say about assuming.”

He steps back to resume his position against the desk. I don’t take any offense at his words. He has every right to them. Both he and Cash have gotten the shaft and I feel incredibly sorry for both of them, for what they’ve suffered and what they’ve lost, for what they’ve had to go through for a man who made all the wrong decisions.

“Maybe after this, you won’t have to hide anymore,” I say softly.

Nash stares into my eyes. I can see that he wants to believe that’s true and my heart squeezes painfully. “Maybe. Maybe one day I can have the freedom, the job, the life. The girl.”

I don’t know if he means me per se, but his look is so intense, it makes me blush anyway.

Holy wow! He’s so much like his brother.

Cash moves to stand at my side. When he speaks, his voice is strained. “If we do this right, maybe we can both have our lives back. And you can find your own job and life and girl.”

Cash slides an arm around my waist. I want to smile at the possessive gesture. Men and their silly posturing!

Obviously, the conversation needs a new direction. The tension is killing me!

“So, have you figured out what to do about tomorrow?”

I hear Cash sigh.

Uh oh.

“I think so.”

He moves away from me to pace to the apartment door and back, his head bent in thought.

“Well?”

“Nash has some…information that we can use as leverage after handing over the books for Marissa.”

“What kind of information?”

There’s a pause, during which it feels like everyone in the room is debating the wisdom of answering me. I disabuse them of that notion right away. “If you’re thinking of keeping me in the dark when I’m one of the ones in their crosshairs, you really need to think again. You need my cooperation, right? I mean, I could go right to the cops and that would change everything, right?”

I hate to make such a threat. I think Cash knows I’m just bluffing, but the others don’t. There’s no way they could.

It’s Gavin who speaks up first. “Just tell her, mate. You’re the one who says she can be trusted.”

I won’t lie. It makes me very happy that Cash has told them as much. It also makes me feel guilty for the misgivings I’ve had the last couple of days.

“The afternoon of the accident, Nash was coming back from the store with supplies for the trip. He stopped on the dock of the marina to video a couple of girls lying on top of a yacht, sunbathing topless. He accidentally caught the trigger man on tape.”

“Trigger man?”

“Yeah, the guy that detonated the bomb.”

I gasp. “Oh shit!”

“Exactly. They’d have killed all of us if they’d known Nash had it. I think Dad was right to hold off for a while. Something like that is very dangerous.”