Holly put her key into the lock of the front door and let them both in. As she crossed the threshold, Victoria breathed a sigh of relief. She couldn’t believe she was finally home.
There had been moments in the basement when she honestly thought she’d never see her family or her home again. This was the first major step in her realising that everything was going to be okay.
She opened her mouth to say something but heard footsteps coming from the kitchen. She grabbed hold of Holly’s arm and pulled her behind her, ready to confront whoever had broken into the townhouse while they had been out.
Holly placed a calming hand on her shoulder. “This is Jazz. They’ve been helping me.”
Victoria looked Jazz up and down. She picked up on Holly’s use of gender-neutral pronouns and noted Jazz’s lightly feminine facial features and androgynous clothing.
“Actually, without Jazz, I wouldn’t have found you. They really put everything together for me,” Holly continued.
Victoria stuck out a hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Jazz. Thank you. I don’t think it’s an over-exaggeration to say that you saved my life.”
Jazz shook her hand. They looked a little in awe, something Victoria was more than used to. “It’s fine, it’s my pleasure. I’ve worked with Carter a lot; she’s good people.”
“She is,” Victoria agreed. “The best.”
“Is everything okay? Did you find Phoebe?” Jazz asked Holly.
“Steven and Phoebe were working together. They were the ones who had been siphoning money from Arrival,” Holly explained.
“I’m afraid it goes deeper than that,” Victoria said.
She hadn’t explained everything to Holly just yet; it wouldn’t be an easy conversation to have. The short rest she’d had in the back of the car had rejuvenated her enough to start thinking about how to explain everything she’d learnt.
“Wow,” Jazz said. “I saved everything I found on a USB stick; hopefully that will help the police to follow the trail. But, I’d rather you kept my name out of it?”
“Of course,” Victoria agreed. “There’s no need for you to become too deeply embroiled in this.”
“I also found something on your laptop, Carter,” Jazz said.
Holly turned to Victoria. “You won’t believe this—Louise had my old laptop. The laptop I had in Paris. Somehow it got back to Arrival in New York, and then through some weird series of events, Louise’s laptop was acting up and IT was being slow as usual. So, she just grabbed a spare one. She’s been using it for over two years.”
Victoria stared at her in confusion. “Yours?”
“Yes. I don’t know how it got back here.”
“I think I do,” Victoria said. She turned back to Jazz. “You said you found something?”
“Yes. I rebuilt some of the deleted files. A lot of it was work stuff—emails, event planning, table seating, memos—but I did find something that I think you’re going to want to see,” Jazz said, gesturing for the pair to follow them into the kitchen.
Victoria took Holly’s hand, and they walked into the kitchen. Or rather, what was left of her kitchen. The entire table had been taken over by empty used plates, laptops, tablets, and cables.
Jazz sat down and gestured for Holly to look at the screen. “I didn’t read them,” they said quickly.
Holly took one look at the screen and gasped. “My journals!”
Victoria resisted the urge to look over her shoulder. She knew Holly was private about her journals, and rightfully so. She smiled as she watched Holly scrolling and happily lapping up the new information.
Holly looked at Victoria. “I sometimes typed up my journals when I was travelling, then I printed them out and stuck them in the physical books. This literally covers everything that happened up to the day I… the day of the accident.”
“I rebuilt as much as I could. I think all of the journal entries you wrote at the time have been recovered,” Jazz explained. “They’re on this USB.” They pointed to the other stick on the table. “The one labelled ‘fuzz’ is for the police.”
Victoria knew that her lawyer wouldn’t be happy with a presumed hacker providing evidence, especially if that hacker wished to remain anonymous. And Michael was on his way.
“Jazz, I think we might have some company soon,” Victoria said gently. “My lawyer.”
Jazz nodded and quickly started to unplug equipment and throw it into a rucksack.
“We’ll be in touch to reimburse you for your time,” Victoria explained.
“No need,” Jazz said. “I’m glad I could help.”
“We’ll be in touch to reimburse you for your time,” Victoria repeated in a tone not to be argued with.
Jazz swallowed nervously. “Um. Okay.”
Victoria tried to keep a neutral expression on her face.
“What?” Holly asked.
Clearly, she failed.
“I’ll see myself out,” Jazz said as they slipped away.
Victoria licked her lips and looked around the kitchen nervously. How could she tell her girlfriend that her long-ago ex had tried to kill her? She wasn’t very good at the most standard of interactions; this was well beyond her capabilities.
“I can hear the cogs in your brain going a thousand miles an hour,” Holly said. “What is it?” She stood up and took Victoria’s hand in hers. “Whatever it is, it’s okay.” Victoria blew out a breath and gestured for Holly to sit down again. She dragged another seat over and sat directly in front of her. “Your accident was perpetrated by Steven. He admitted everything to me. He was boasting about how clever he was, typical man.”
“He did this to me?” Holly frowned.
“Steven? No, he’s a coward. He and whoever he works with on this embezzling scheme hired someone to, well, to kill you.”
Holly paled, and she sat back in her chair. “Kill me?”
“Yes. I’m afraid so. You’d found out that he was stealing. He tried to bribe you, but you weren’t going to be bought. So, they hired someone to get rid of you. That person didn’t finish the job, thank heavens.”
Victoria stopped speaking. She could see that Holly was reeling from the news. She gave her a few moments for that to settle before she continued. “Steven found out that you were in the hospital with memory loss, and he took that as a win. He… he left you there and didn’t tell anyone. He brought your laptop and your mobile phone back to Arrival after wiping them. Everything else, I presume he disposed of.”
Victoria realised she was clenching her hand so tightly that she was nearly drawing blood with her nails embedded in her palms.
In many ways she was lucky that she’d been eager to get out of the basement and upstairs to confront whatever new assailant lurked there. If she’d stayed in the basement with Steven, there was a chance she would have killed him.
Her mind tortured her with thoughts of what-ifs. What if, back in Paris, Holly had managed to tell her what she found out? What if Steven had succeeded in his original scheme and Holly had died? What if Holly had never found out about his scheme at all?
No matter which way she looked at it, Holly was an innocent bystander caught up in Steven’s money-hungry scheme, and, for that, he needed to pay. Dearly.
But right now, Victoria was solely focused on making sure that Holly weathered the latest storm as best she could.
Holly’s mouth opened and closed a few times as she processed what she was hearing.
“I’m so sorry,” Victoria said. “What happened to you happened because of me.”
Holly’s eyes glinted with anger. “Don’t ever say that. You aren’t to blame for what he did to me.”
Victoria swallowed, never having seen Holly’s fury burst forth like that.
“This was all him,” Holly said firmly. “Anyone who worked with you and with him could have been in the line of fire. It just happened to be me.”
Victoria opened her mouth to argue but thought better of it. Holly was adamant, and any debate could be saved for another time.
“You need to see a doctor,” Holly said, indicating Victoria’s forehead.
She stood up and looked in the mirror that hung on the wall. A small cut grazed her hairline above her right eye. She didn’t even know when it had happened.
“I’m fine. Hardly worth worrying about,” she said.
“I did all of this wrong,” Holly said. “We should have stayed together. Playing along just meant you were put in danger.”
Victoria put her hand on Holly’s shoulder. “It wouldn’t have made a difference; Steven wanted us apart. If the images hadn’t worked, then he would have tried something else. Whatever happened, we were always heading for this destination. Apparently, his plan was coming to an end soon anyway.”
“I know. I thought I’d lost you,” Holly whispered, her voice breaking.
Victoria crouched down and caught her gaze. “You’re not going to lose me. I’m far too stubborn.”
Holly chuckled as some tears trickled down her cheek.
“But I’m going to do something I should have done at the start of all of this,” Victoria said. She stood up and snatched her phone from the table. She started to compose a text to Louise. “Starting this evening, we’re going to have full-time security at the house, at the office, following you, me, and the children. No arguments.”
“No arguments from me,” Holly said.
Victoria fired off a text to Louise and then put the phone back on the table. Her stomach growled. Holly frowned and looked at her with concern. “When did you last eat?”
Never mind prison for Steven, Victoria thought. Just have him admit to Holly Carter that he hasn’t eaten for twelve hours.
“A while ago,” she said vaguely.
“I’m making you a sandwich.” Holly jumped up and started cleaning the plates away. “If Jazz has left anything to eat in the house.”
Victoria wasn’t going to argue; a sandwich sounded divine. She hadn’t realised how hungry she was until that exact moment.
Louise texted back to say that Steven and Phoebe were in custody. She was on her way to the house with some paperwork, and security was also on the way.
“So, it wasn’t Louise,” Victoria said triumphantly as Holly pulled a loaf out of the bread bin.
“No.” Holly grinned. “It was your ex.”
Victoria felt the blush on her cheeks. “Ah, you know.”
“Yes, I know.” Holly chuckled. “You sure know how to pick them.”
Victoria smirked. “I do, don’t I? Well, admittedly I didn’t know he was committing fraud at the time.”
Holly held up a mug. “Coffee? It’s going to be a long night.”
“Yes, please.” She watched as Holly flitted around the kitchen, making food and cleaning things away as if she’d always been there. It seemed inconceivable to think of the house, or her life, without Holly Carter.
“By the way,” Holly said, “I had a conversation with Louise, and I apologised.”
“Whatever for?”
“For being helplessly in love with you when we worked together and shouldering her to one side so I could spend more time with you.” She grabbed some items from the fridge and arranged them on the counter. “I realised that I’d been projecting my own feelings for you onto Louise. She doesn’t hero-worship you; she thinks you’re a genius and wants to learn from you.”
“Well, I am a genius,” Victoria agreed.
“And so modest.” Holly chuckled.
The doorbell rang. “That will be the lawyer,” Victoria said. “And so it begins.”