Harley cupped her face and wiped the tears away with his thumbs. “You are nothing like him, Norah. You hear me? You are absolutely right, they would have killed you.”
He knew that no matter what she thought, the deaths of the men ate at her. They would for the rest of her life, just like the weight of the bad men he had killed did.
“You cannot even for a second believe you are like him, Norah. You are a good person, one of the best, and you would never hurt anyone unless you had to.”
“I just—”
“No,” he interrupted. “Not even for a second do you blame yourself, okay?”
Norah nodded.
“I love you, Norah.”
Her eyes widened, and he smiled.
“You—”
“I love you,” he said again. “I’m not saying it so you’ll say it back. I understand you have been through a lot. But I just wanted you to know where I stood. I have fallen madly in love with you, and when this is all over I want to spend the rest of my life showing you. Forget about everything else going on right now, we will take it one step at a time. All I want is for you to know that when this is all over, I plan on taking you on an amazing first date.” He grinned.
She smiled softly and kissed him. “I love you too, Harley.”
Harley’s smile widened. “Really?”
“So much, Harley. I’ve never said it to anyone before, so I wasn’t sure how to tell you.”
“I think you did a pretty damn amazing job.” He pulled her in for a kiss.
They broke apart when a knock sounded at the door.
“You two up?” Gerry’s voice sounded rougher than usual, and Harley assumed he and Marissa had spent the night arguing. He hoped they had worked things out not only for themselves, but for he and Norah as well. They would all need to work together if they were going to bring Clayton and Tom down.
“Yeah, we’re up,” Harley said without taking his eyes off Norah.
“Great. Be downstairs in a few, we have some things to talk about.”
“See you then,” Harley said, and pulled Norah in for another kiss. “I love you,” he whispered again, and she smiled against his mouth.
* * *
“WE FIGURED OUT why the bastard wants the bracelet so badly,” Gerry said when Harley and Norah finally emerged from their bedroom.
“What is it?”
“It has a chip.”
“What?” Norah said, and looked down at the bracelet in Gerry’s hand. The twenty-six-carat princess-cut tennis bracelet had been the nicest thing Clayton had ever bought her. It had shocked her when he had given it to her nearly a year ago, because he hadn’t ever gotten her anything before.
He had always told her he wanted to make sure she wasn’t with him simply because he had money. She had understood and had never asked for anything because she hadn’t given a damn about his money. She had cared for the good person she had believed he was. Wasn’t she an idiot.
The excitement over the gift had worn off quickly, though. She had seen the receipt sitting on his desk shortly after he had given it to her. He had spent over a hundred and fifty thousand dollars on a bracelet for her, when people were starving on the streets. It had bothered her, so she had only worn it whenever they had charity banquets where looks mattered more than they should have.
She had never brought it up with Clayton, though; she knew he didn’t value money the way she did, and he would have just brushed her concerns aside. She couldn’t deny that a selfish part of her wanted to make sure she didn’t give him a reason to take it away. Not because it was expensive, but because he had given it to her and she had foolishly believed that had meant something.
“What kind of chip?” Harley asked, taking the bracelet from Gerry’s hand.
“Not quite sure. It can only be read with a particular device, probably one that Clayton has on hand.”
“Why would he put a chip in my bracelet?”
“Could be a way for him to store information without worrying someone might access it.” Gerry rubbed his hand over his beard.
“Or it could be a way for him to pass information along to someone else undetected,” Marissa added.
“But any time I wasn’t wearing it I had it locked in my safe.”
“Did anyone ever come over to you while you were wearing it?”
“Of course they did. It’s a hundred-and-fifty-thousand-dollar bracelet, Harley.” Norah couldn’t hide the irritation in her voice.
Had Clayton used her as an information carrier? What type of information had she been responsible for transferring?
“Not what I meant, Norah.”
“I know, I’m sorry. There was a man and his wife who would find me at banquets to look at it. They asked me to see it every time because he said he wanted to get his wife one.” She pinched the bridge of her nose. “I don’t understand, though, there would be easier ways to transfer information. Why didn’t Clayton put it in something he was wearing, why use me?”
“Not sure.” Harley handed the bracelet back to Gerry. “Can you find a way to read it?”
“Unlikely,” Marissa answered. “What about you call your cop friend?”
“Cop friend?” Norah asked.
“Friend is a little strong. I knew him back when I was a on the force; he is now the lieutenant for Seattle PD. He is who got me out of custody.”
“When were you arrested?”
“After the accident. Turns out I was fired and used as a plant in Tom’s company. They thought I would turn him in once I figured out what he was doing. Only I found out too late.”
“Seems I missed a lot.”
“Some,” Marissa said with a smile. “Speaking of, aren’t there some things you’d like to share, Gerry?”
Norah turned to look at Gerry, whose face had gone a shade paler than normal.
“Would have preferred to do it in my own time, Marissa.”
“Time’s up,” she said simply, and crossed her arms over her chest.
“What am I missing?”
“First of all, I would like to start off by apologizing.” Gerry looked at Norah. “I never meant to cause you any pain.”
“Pain? What are you talking about?”
“In 1990, I was sent to Seattle to gather some intel on a company believed to be selling secrets. I stayed with a woman named Angela McNamara for the weekend.”
“So you knew my mom.” Norah crossed her arms over her chest.
“It’s a little more complicated than that.”
“How much more complicated?”
“I knew her before she met the man you knew as your father.”
“That’s not possible, because I was born in October 1990. She had already been with my dad for a year.”
“That’s not true,” Gerry said, and rubbed his hands together in frustration. “I’m your biological father.”
Norah stared at Gerry. Her mind couldn’t quite wrap itself around the bombshell he had just dropped on her head.
“I’m sorry.” She put her hand up. “You are telling me that you’re my father? That the man my mother was married to when I was born was not? If that’s true, and I’m not saying I believe you, than how long have you known?”
“I found out shortly after your eighteenth birthday.”
“Are you kidding me?” Norah fumed. “You’ve known for eight years? Where the hell were you?”