"Bridge, I want Toby's killers caught, and I want Middleton to be held accountable. It's just… This is terrifying.” She sighed. "I’m just worried with all that’s been happening. I don't know what I thought. I guess maybe that you and the boys would catch him and it would be neat and tidy. And while I was here gathering information, that I wouldn't, I don't know, get my hands dirty or have to spend too much time with him. I know now that was naive."
“It’s human, Ems. What you’re feeling right now is human."
"How am I supposed to do my job like this?"
I didn’t like it. I’d have to find a way to get more security in the building. Alex and the current guards weren’t enough. "You just have to go to work every day. Go through the motions if you have to and stay out of his way. You’re not alone. You still have all of us.”
Her voice wavered. "Bridge, what if I can't do this?"
I pulled her close. “Hey. Shh, listen. We have got this. You’re not in this alone. Okay?”
She nodded against my chest. “I’m scared.”
“I know, love. I am too. But we’ll find a way around this.”
I had to find a way to make that true.
Twenty-One
Emma
After lunch with Bridge, I had to go back to work. Instead of the hot sex in his office like I’d planned, he’d spent it feeding me and rubbing my feet to relax me enough so I could go back.
There was a knock on my door and I glanced up, surprised to find Nyla in the doorway. "Hey."
"Hey, stranger. I haven't seen you in a little bit."
She shrugged. "I know. A week is too long. But with you guys, you know, not staying at the house, it’s hard to get together as much."
I hadn’t forgotten that there was a bug in the office. "You just came to say hi?"
She nodded. "I came to check on you. Especially after dinner the other night. I felt like I was initially harsh on you. I have made a million mistakes when it comes to the guys."
"Thanks, I appreciate that. Come on, let's take a walk."
Thanks to Bridge, I knew where the bugs were. The problem was, I couldn't remove them without tipping off Middleton that I knew where they were and that I was being bugged in the first place. So, any private conversations I wanted to have were held outside of the building.
Once we were outside in the crisp air, we walked down to the café on the corner. It was bustling with tourists, and there were almost no seats. Nyla managed to snag one but nearly bumped out a pre-teen with multicolor streaks in her hair and way too much eyeliner. Wasn't eyeliner meant to lightly enhance?
"So at least Bridge hasn't killed you. Remember when East actually tried to kill me?”
I took a deep breath. "Okay, when I tell you this, I need you to not be mad. I need you to not judge me. And I also need you to not give me a lecture."
Nyla laughed. "Um, I'm an Interpol agent that often goes rogue following my hunches. I'm not one to judge. If it wasn't for Amelia, I would have been arrested myself eons ago.”
Nyla's best friend, Amelia, was our resident touchpoint. Whenever we were about to do something really illegal, she was always there to make sure that we A, didn't, or B, didn't get caught. Usually the latter. Although both of them worked at Interpol, Nyla was a little more tenacious. And sometimes she, like me, would get herself into a little spot of trouble.
"Okay, you know how I told you Bridge's father wanted to give me information about his past and sow a seed of discontent?"
Nyla nodded. "Yeah."
"Well, I left something out."
Her brows lifted as the waitress brought over our teas and scones. "What did you leave out?"
I opened my bag and then slipped the file toward her. When she opened it, she started shuffling through the photos. "Oh my God. Who is this?"
"Melissa Carlisle. She died at the boathouse near Eton when the guys were in their last year right before the initiation. Maybe a few weeks."
Nyla's brow furrowed. "Who killed her?"
"That's just the thing. Her case is still unsolved."
She frowned and I could tell her brain had started to work, started to go through the process of who she was, what evidence they had. I could tell when she started holding her breath because she got to the part where it talked about Bridge's past and the kids he used to hang with. And that boy. The boy he'd stabbed and shaved his head.
Nyla let out a long breath. "Fucking hell."
"Oh yes, my sentiments exactly."
"You've been holding on to this for the last two weeks?"
"What was I supposed to say? 'Hey, Bridge’s dad thinks he murdered someone.’
She chewed her bottom lip. "No, I suppose not."
"And I don't believe he's murdered anyone. Something is not right, but I can't pinpoint it."
"Is this what you've been working on? The thing you've been looking into?”
“Bridge told you?”
“Couple of days ago. He wanted me to look into how sticky his dad could make things for him with little more than innuendo.”
“His own father, went to all that trouble to put this all together. Did he think I would believe it?”
Nyla shrugged. “Sometimes the evidence seems overwhelming. Do you remember me and East just a few months ago? I did try to put him and his friends in jail. The evidence was overwhelming. But the evidence was wrong. They weren’t murderers.”
"Yes, shady, but not murderers."
Nyla nodded. "Exactly, not murderers. So whatever is going on here, his father is trying to make him look like a killer. But why?"
"I know. I've been going over and over it ever since I talked to Melissa's friend in Windsor, but I just—"
Nyla shook her head and put her hand up. "I'm sorry, rewind. You talked to who?"
"Melissa's friend. I knew this case was unsolved, so I just pretended I was a reporter and told her I wanted to get some focus put back on Melissa's case."
Nyla blinked, then blinked again, and then shook her head. "Jesus fucking Christ, Ems, you can't just go traipsing anywhere without telling anyone where you're going and what you're doing. Fucking hell. She could have been a complete psycho."
"Relax, I had security with me. And I told Bridge I was going. I just didn't tell him exactly who I was going to see."
She ran a hand through her hair. "I don't even know what to say to you, love.”
"I know. I know. I just— I need some answers. I need to know why. Aren't you like this? Don't you need to know?"
Nyla sighed. "Yeah, I do. And I'd just caution you because it will cause pain.”
"The thing is, I knew from the moment his father handed me that file that Bridge was no murderer. He could have killed me in a dozen ways by now. Sometimes, I deserved it."
Nyla grinned. "Sex games, again?"
"Stop it."
She chuckled under her breath. "Fine, fine."
"The point is," I sighed, "I'm more curious as to why his father is so desperate to make me believe this. He's going out of his way to make me think his own son is a murderer. Wouldn't that tarnish the family name? Wouldn't that make the Edgertons look bad? It doesn't make any sense. There are a lot of things about him that don't make any sense."