Jared shrugged. “It could. It could just be meant to signify your birthday. It could be an area code, or a flight number…some type of location?”
I thought about the safe in my mother’s office, the files it contained, the photos…I couldn’t make a connection with anything we’d looked over to the number. Shoving myself off the counter, I slammed the paper on the table and walked to the couch, falling over the arm onto my back with a frustrated cry.
“Nina,” Jared said, his voice beside me, “we’ll figure this out. Try not to make yourself sick over it.”
“There’s nothing in the safe; I’ve already poured over my father’s office and searched all of his cabinets, there’s nothing!” I covered my face with my hands.
Jared kneeled beside me and pulled my hands away from my eyes. “We’ll go back tomorrow, look in Jack’s office and take another look at the files in the safe. Why don’t we rent a movie, hang out on the couch…spend some time together?”
“Ugh,” I said, sitting up. “Did I put Jack’s keys in his drawer? I don’t think I did. What did I do with them?” I asked, patting my pants pockets.
Jared grinned. “They’re in my jacket pocket. We can take them back tomorrow.”
I sat for a moment, my eyes unfocused, deep in thought.
Jared touched my shoulder. “Nina?”
I scrambled to the coat rack and shoved my hands in his jacket pockets. “They’re not here!”
Jared eyed me warily. “They’re in the inside pocket. What’s going on?”
“Eight twenty-five!” I yanked the ring of keys from his jacket and thumbed through them. When I found what I was looking for, I held it away from the rest, showing it to Jared. “See? Eight twenty-five!”
Jared looked at the key and then back at me, his eyes animated. “What does it open?”
“I don’t know,” I said, looking at the key, “but it can’t be a coincidence, right?”
“I doubt it,” Jared said, his face twisting into a frown.
“What?”
Jared took the keys from me. “I want you to let me take care of this. I’ve humored you. You’re upset about the way Jack died, I get it. But things could go downhill pretty quickly if we find what they’re looking for. I don’t want you anywhere near me when they figure out what we’ve done.”
“You’ve humored me?” I asked, insulted. “I’m not going to get in your way, I almost have this figured out, I….”
“Did you listen to a thing I’ve said?” he snapped. After a brief moment, Jared closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “I know you need this to be over. You just don’t understand what we’re dealing with, here. I can’t let my emotions get in the way of my job, Nina. I’ve already let this go too far. God knows the last thing I want is for you to be angry with me, but you’ve got to let me handle this.”
“But—,”
“No, Nina. It’s too dangerous,” he said firmly.
My eyes narrowed. “I wasn’t asking permission.”
“This isn’t about me telling you what to do. This is about your safety.” He hugged me to him and I reached for the keys, pulling them from his grip. I knew that if he hadn’t allowed me to do it, I would never have gotten the keys from his hand. I hoped that meant a part of him wanted my help.
“I’m going to take another look at Jack’s office.”
I turned to open the door, but I was frozen. Jared held me by my waist. Before I could protest, he exhaled a long, resigned sigh.
“Give me a minute. I’ll go with you,” he said, obviously annoyed.
I waited at the door until Jared finished packing our lunch, and then he grabbed my hand on the way out.
Half-way to my parents’ home he still hadn’t spoken.
“I’m sorry,” I said, placing my hand on his. “I don’t want you to be mad, but this is something I need to do.”
Jared sighed. “I don’t want you to get hurt. I’m beginning to regret telling you anything.”
Those words stung me. “I don’t want to get hurt, either. We won’t have to keep looking over our shoulders if we end this. We can just live our lives normally. Together.”
Jared squeezed my hand as he pulled into the drive.
On a rug in Cynthia’s office I thumbed through papers, looking for anything with numbers. I highlighted anything with an eight, two, or five anywhere near each other.
Two and a half hours later, I had several piles of papers, and nothing that included the numbers we were looking for. I sat up straight to stretch my aching back.
“Let’s take a break,” Jared said. He pulled the highlighter from my fingers and handed me the plastic container with my lunch sealed inside.
I stretched my legs over Jared’s lap and chewed happily on his amazing stir fry, marveling at what an exceptional cook he was. Jared pulled off my boot and began rubbing my foot, and I leaned my head back.
“This is taking forever,” I groaned.
“We could call it a day. I could take you out to dinner,” he offered.