A Surprise Favor – Chapter 21

“What do we do?” I ask Carlos.

He stands and presses his hand to his mouth, his eyes searching back and forth.

“Carlos,” I press, trying to get him to respond.

He waves me off. “Give me a minute. I’m thinking.”

We don’t have a minute. We’re already running late.

“Okay.” He hands me the note. “Put this in your bag. We walk out of here like we have the drives. Total confidence. No one needs to know about this but us and your network.”

“Nina?” I ask, putting the note in my bag.

“Yes, Nina and the crew, too.” He runs his fingers through his hair. “She’ll want to scope out Miguel. But we’re going to pretend to everyone else that you have them. We don’t know who will be watching and listening.”

I point to the camera in the corner, but he waves it away. “Don’t worry about that.” His stare is intense. I don’t need to worry about that because he’ll hack in and delete the video. He’ll also uncover when Miguel came and identify the ‘inside man’ responsible for deleting the logs. Carlos can communicate a lot with a stare.

“Ready?” he asks, and I nod. Confidence is hard to find, but I dig it out of my reserves, straighten my shoulders, tip up my chin, and leave the room. The guard had moved about five meters down the hall to give us privacy, and he looks up as we approach him.

“All done?”

“Yep.” I smile and hope it appears genuine. “Thank you for your time.”

“Of course,” he says, squeezing past us. He closes up the room and locks it while we wait, then directs us to the elevator. We follow him in and up to the main floor through the door to the lobby.

I stop dead in my tracks as my duonet access returns and pings from Ai flood my vision.

Yes, yes, I get it.

My mom and Dominic are here.

My stomach sinks as I take in the scene before me. Mom stands with her back to us, her posture rigid as she talks to Dominic. He towers over her, his gaze flicking from her to the floor, to Declan and Nina and back again. Both of them are angry, their faces tight. It’s clear they were arguing before we arrived. Declan’s face is a passive mask, his alternate lawyer personality taking over amid the conflict.

I take a deep breath, trying to stay calm while Carlos grabs my arm and leads me forward. “Smile,” he whispers and forces his own lips into a grin.

I do as instructed, plastering on a face that I hope looks friendly yet confident. Carlos’s hand is a reassuring weight on my lower back as he leans forward and whispers in my ear, “We can still do this.”

Even though I can sense his confidence, it doesn’t make me any less scared. All I want is to run away, but that’s not an option. We need to get through this to retrieve the drives from Miguel. Fucking Miguel. I swear I am going to filet him alive when I see him.

We walk over to where Mom and Dominic stand, both looking at us with suspicion in their eyes.

“Hi,” I say with forced cheerfulness as we approach them. “What brings you two here?”

Mom’s lip twitches before she speaks, her voice low and controlled. “You know why we’re here.” She glances between Carlos and me. “Those drives don’t belong to you,” she adds, nodding towards Carlos.

“Doesn’t matter now because they’re mine,” I say, clutching the straps of my bag on my shoulder.

Carlos’s arm around my waist pulls me farther away from Mom. He clears his throat before addressing her. “We have every right to them since they contain data about Skylar and her childhood.”

Mom glares at Carlos for a moment before turning to me. She looks sad, not angry. “That’s not true. They have data about our financials, and I don’t want you to be a part of my business anymore.”

I glance at Dominic, and his stare is challenging me to rock the boat. Mom doesn’t know what’s on the drives. I can hear him in my head saying, “Go ahead and tell her. I dare you. You’ll look crazy.”

“I understand you want these drives so you can argue against us in court that we don’t need your salary,” Mom says, “but I can’t let you take them.”

“They’re mine.” I lift my chin, daring her to defy me in front of everyone.

My eyes dart to Declan, wondering what to do next. He shakes his head slightly, telling me it’s not worth arguing with Dominic right now. I agree. I want out of here.

I try to walk away from Mom and stand next to Declan, but Dominic gets in my way.

“The drives are ours,” he insists, trying to reach for my bag. I shrink away from him, pressing myself against Declan’s warmth as I resist giving them up. Nina steps in, her hand out to block Dominic.

“Stay back or I’ll be forced to subdue you.” The threatening tone of Nina’s voice chills me. She could put Dom down and probably kill him with her bare hands.

“Skylar,” Mom says gently, her voice placating as she steps forward and places her hand on Dominic’s arm. “Let it go.”

Dominic scowls at me before stepping away. His eyes meet Nina’s and the two stare at each other until Dominic blinks first.

Declan takes my hand in his.

“Look,” Declan says, breaking his silence. “This doesn’t have to be an argument.” His voice is surprisingly calm as he speaks up and steps forward, not letting Dominic intimidate him. His attorney instincts are always working towards fixing things. “We can work something out where everyone is happy.”

Mom looks at him for a moment before turning to me, her gaze softening. She opens her mouth as if she’s about to speak, but then closes it again with a sigh.

“No, I want what’s mine. Now,” Mom insists.

Declan’s expression hardens. He was hoping for more of a polite conversation than this. “If you want the drives, you’ll have to file a motion to compel them in court,” he says, tucking me behind him.

We need more mediation to move forward, but that’s not happening right now, especially since I don’t have the drives.

“Who are you?” Mom’s eyes focus on him.

“Declan Sanches, Skylar’s attorney and network mate.”

Mom blinks a few times. “Where did all of these loyal men come from?” She glances at Dominic, and for one second, one tiny little fraction of a second, I see doubt there, doubt in Dominic. He has been feeding her lies for so long, she doesn’t know which way is up.

“Mom, I have always been a loyal first-daughter. Just because you were told the contrary by him doesn’t mean it’s not true.”

“Such lies,” Dominic says, rolling his eyes.

Mom turns to him. “You be quiet.”

Dom’s face falls, and I stop myself from cackling in glee. Because this is not my win; I know it’s not. One moment like this does not erase twenty-plus years of brainwashing.

“Skylar,” Mom says, sweetening her voice, “give me the drives and we’ll move on.”

“Go to hell.” I turn on my heel and stalk away.

Fuck no. No way. Not in a million years.

“Skylar!” Mom calls after me, but I don’t stop.

I get to the waiting autocab, open the door, and slip inside. Declan, Nina, and Carlos follow me in, closing the door behind them.

The autocab pulls away from the curb, and I can feel Mom’s and Dominic’s eyes burning into the back of my head. Mom’s face is the picture of annoyance and anger, but for once, there is something else in her gaze too, a hint of uncertainty. Guilt turns my stomach inside out. I wish I could get through to her.

Declan pulls me against him, wrapping his arms around me protectively. I take a deep breath and lean into his embrace as our autocab speeds away.

“What now?” Nina asks, breaking the silence in the cab. She looks at Declan, waiting for an answer.

He squeezes me before letting go. “We have to figure out what to do with those drives. We can’t turn them over to your mom or Dominic, not yet at least.”

I nod in agreement, my mind racing with ideas about what to do next. “Well, don’t get too excited because we didn’t get the drives,” I say with a sigh.

“What?” Nina and Declan ask at the same time.

I open my bag, push aside the container holding my plant, and fish out the piece of paper. I hand it over to Declan, and his eyes take in the note. “Who the fuck is Miguel?”

I blink in surprise. It’s the first time I’ve heard him swear.

“Skylar’s mom’s first husband,” Carlos fills in, focusing on us again. He’s been gesturing and looking at something via his ocular implant since we got into the car. “According to the logs, no one had access to that box besides Skylar, Dominic, her mother, and me. But…” He stops for a moment. “Ah. I’ve found the deleted logs and videos.” He sighs. “Nothing is ever really deleted. The site manager accessed the box two weeks ago, left the note, and took the drives. Hmmm. The site manager and Miguel are old school buddies.” He rubs his face. “I wish I had seen that coming.”

Declan shuts his open mouth and rubs his chin. “I can ask the courts to issue a search warrant for the evidence. It might take a few days, but I know the right people.”

“No.” I lay my hand on his knee. “I might be able to just talk him into giving them to me.”

“Why did you pretend you had the drives?” Nina asks. Her head has been bouncing back and forth for the last few minutes.

I shrug, but Carlos butts in. “Because if they think we have them, they won’t try to figure out who really does. And when you pinpoint those who have the most to lose from Skylar’s secret coming to light, Miguel is right at the top. Society would shun him for allowing the mistreatment of a first-daughter.”

Nina stares at me for a long moment, and I can feel the calculations she’s making in her head. “This is a lot worse than I thought.” She presses the tips of her fingers to her mouth. “Who does that?” Her voice drips with disbelief. “Who mistreats a first-daughter? What did they do?” The hardness of her voice chills me to the bone. My hopes rise that she’s on my side. She believes me!

But her piercing stare doesn’t waver. “This is a serious accusation. No one would treat a first-daughter this way. I will need proof of what they did.”

Fucking hell.

There was proof and it was on those drives. Drives I don’t have.

If anything, this confrontation has given her more doubts. I shake my head at her and look out the window.

Nina doesn’t believe me. This was a bridge too far for her. My reputation as the flying-fucking-ne’er-do-well pilot was a believable front. But this? A first-daughter abused? That’s too much. Her own daughter is a prized member of the family. I remember the news stories about her marriage and her upbringing. Vivian attended her wedding, so I snooped, of course. Nina’s family is a classic example of how the relationship network system is supposed to work. Anything else, to her, is unthinkable.

“Let’s all go back to my place and rest,” Declan suggests, tipping over his wristlet. “I’ll have everyone meet us there.”