Chapter 172

I crept up in front of Theo, and he patted the bench beside him. Everything in my body froze. Was this some sort of trap? Had I been corned into something compromising?

“Please sit down,” he said. “It will be a more comfortable interview this way.”

I sat, my butt nearly as numb as my lips.

He smiled up at David. “Can you give us a few minutes?”

David nodded and wandered off in the direction of a coffee stand.

“Don’t look so panicked,” Theo soothed. “I need to tell you about my sister and what Anthony did to her.”

Now, my jaw dropped open yet again. I gaped at him with my mouth hanging like some sort of halfwit with my eyes all bugged out. But I couldn’t help it.

“You’re TheoryofTruth!” I garbled out.

“Guilty,” he said with a shrug that took his shoulders up near his ears.

“I’m so confused right now,” I muttered, taking the seat he offered.

“I don’t doubt it,” he said. “So, let’s set a few things so we can relax and conduct a proper interview. First, did you really think you could get on the dark web without me figuring it out? Not that I was going to stop you. I’ve been acting on the dark web for years. I monitor it in order to keep my charges safe and… And I vent when things like what happened with my sister happened.”

He made a face. “The only reason she’s not living in Southhaven is because I have a portion of my salary diverted to her. They don’t take kindly to single mothers here. And since obviously Anthony wasn’t planning on marrying her and setting up an honest family. She was kind of screwed—in more ways than one.”

I leaned back on the bench and rubbed my face. “So, this whole time, you’ve known everything?” I clarified.

“Everything,” he replied. “But let’s focus on one thing at a time. After this, I’m hoping the four of us can all be honest with each other. David knows everything, as well. He’ll give us whatever time we need while we’re here. And then he’ll back us up in whatever way we need it later.”

“This. This is…” I sighed and chuckled. “I’ll be honest, it’s a huge relief. I’ve been so conflicted about you. I wanted to trust you wholly, and yet I wasn’t sure that—”

“That I wasn’t going to turn you into the government?” he finished for me.

“Yes, exactly. I wasn’t sure who your loyalties really aligned with. And not that I have done anything to earn any sort of loyalty, but money talks, and I didn’t know I was paying you.”

He nodded. “It’s definitely the palace government paying for my services, and we were given specific rules for you. But just like being on the dark web, I tend to follow my conscience. As long as I am not explicitly going against anything that I’ve been told.”

Theo proceeded to tell me what exactly had happened to his sister. She’d been star-struck by Anthony and flattered when he expressed first an interest and then love to her. It turned out she was just a step that he needed to go through to get information on someone else, and yet he’d let her fall for him. And even slept with her without protection. And, of course, nine months later, she was left with the result of being used.

She’d tried to use court orders to get Anthony to take a paternity test so that she could collect some form of child support or a settlement. But he’d always managed to dodge and had been doing so for almost six years. The whole while, she struggled to support herself and her child in a city set up to move anyone struggling as far out of sight as possible.

By the time Theo finished a story, every muscle in his body was tight, and his hands were balled into fists. “This is why I couldn’t be sure of Anthony’s motivation yesterday when we woke up drugged. But it’s also why I was positive that he was involved and how I was sure that we were drugged. I don’t know what he’s gaining out of coming after us, but the man is a menace to society, and he needs to be taken down.”

He gave me a very sincere look. “You always fight for truth and for those being hurt by big lies. I know that you will bring this man to justice. Not just for my sister, but for everybody.”

“That’s a huge responsibility,” I said, “but thank you for putting your faith in me.”

He gripped my hand and gave the back of it a gentlemanly kiss. “I have absolute faith in you. And anything you need for me, you have it.”

“Wait,” I said, glancing around us. “If you’re both here, who’s watching Charles?”

David grinned. He returned with coffee in hand. “We aren’t the only two bodyguards we know. We made arrangements for this ahead of time, and there’s another guard in Theo’s place back at the apartment.”

He held out his hands in a placating gesture. “Not to worry. I fully trust this individual.”

“You’re not even going to tell me their name?” I pressed.

He shook his head. “It’s better this way. We were given very specific backups when we took the job. Obviously, something might happen to one of us where we’d need time off. But I don’t trust the individuals that were scheduled as our backup the way that Theo and I needed to trust someone. I won’t say because I don’t want anyone getting in trouble for us swapping out an unauthorized bodyguard.”

“Oh, that makes sense,” I said. “Don’t worry. Your secret is safe with me.”

Both of the men grinned. “We know,” they answered at the same time.

“But I also don’t want to put the other guard in a situation where they might be questioned or compromised.” David looked between Theo and me. “Are the two of you all right here if I take off and head back?”

“I’m good,” Theo said. “I can handle guarding Elena from here.”

“You know I’m going to tell Charles when I get home, right?” I said, looking between the two of them.

“We know,” they answered at the same time again. That was getting ridiculous. Did they practice it or something?

“So why don’t you just go ahead and fill Charles in when you get back?” I suggested to David. “That way, when I get home, I can go straight to work.”

David nodded and gave us a wave, then sauntered off.

I sat back against the back of the bench and tucked my hands between my knees to stop both the cold and their quaking. “I haven’t found out if there’s anyone behind Anthony,” I confessed. “If there is, and I publish what I’ve found so far, I could risk angering very powerful people—unknown powerful people,” I stipulated.

He reached over and put a hand on my forearm, and gave it a gentle squeeze. “I’ll protect you from anyone I need to,” he said. “The people you help, they’re just like my sister. You’re the champion that the regular people need, and I’m your knight in shining armor.”

I let out a deep, slow sigh. “Well, then, unless you’ve got anything else to add to your sister’s story, I think it’s time for me to get back and get to work.”

“Where are you going to publish this?” he asked. “Everybody on…” he leaned close and whispered, “the dark web…” then sat back up, “already knows what sort of slime Anthony Bellweather really is. It worked the last time publishing your findings there, but will it do the job again? Especially against a target as well known in literary circles as Bellweather?”

I pressed my lips together. “Unless I feel like dragging Rafe Media through the mud, I don’t see that I have much of a choice. The Palace Press panel will stop anything that they worry is going to shake the status quo.”

“And what if I said I could help with that, too?” he asked.

“I’d jump on the offer.”

He nodded. “I have a personal friend at one of the main media corporations here in Packhaven. It’s obviously not official like the Palace Press. But it’s also a reliable news source. People are going to trust that what’s printed there is the truth. I think my friend can get your story on paper before the Palace Press panel gets wind of it and stops it. And, even if I’m wrong, then you can always go back to publishing it on the dark web.”

He dropped his voice for that again, even though there was no one around us. Clearly, Theo wasn’t used to talking about such things out in the open. This ramped up my worries. If a strong guard like Theo was nervous, how scared should I be?