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.What about the one across her chest?”Candace sat up straight.“If it was an automatic belt, it didn’t function properly.It should have held her back or she wouldn’t have hit the dashboard so hard,” I said.“How do you know that’s what happened?”“When I went to see her—”Candace narrowed her eyes at me, definitely not happy about that reminder.“When I saw her,” I began again, “she had this weird bruise on her chest.” I looked around and finding a pad and pen by the phone, quickly sketched it out and handed it to her.“I know what it is now—a logo.What kind of car was it?”“A Lancia.”“A shield in a circle,” I said.“So when Parker hit the dashboard hard, it left an almost exact imprint.”“If you’re right, that would explain her chest injuries,” Candace said in a tone that told me she wasn’t completely convinced.“The airbag should have prevented that.It deployed in the crash.”I nodded.“Yes, and Ortiz said that the car was checked out before that day and everything was working fine.We know that all the safety features, the seat belt and the airbag, worked perfectly on the driver’s side because although Ortiz was bruised and banged up, she walked away without being seriously hurt.”Candace blinked several times.Unsure if she was following where I was going with this, I continued.“Parker’s seat belt had to malfunction for her to hit the dashboard.The injuries on her face and head came because the airbag was late being deployed.Along with the seat belt, I think the airbag sensor was also tampered with.It was like a one-two punch.” I took a breath.“Anyone with the right know-how could do that with a laptop and a couple of cables.Whoever it was, they made the accident look legit by frying the system so that the seat belt hack couldn’t be traced.After that, it was just a matter of a little offensive driving on someone’s part—get in Ortiz’s way on a narrow street.”She shook her head in wonder, then her eyes focused on me.“Keep this between us.Until we can verify this, trust no one.Do you understand?”I nodded vigorously.“And there’s another connection.Or maybe it’s nothing.”She leaned forward, attentive.“Go on.”“When I was doing the expense reports I saw that Serena had bought these cables—the same kind that could have been used to hack Parker’s car.”Candace relaxed a little bit.“Yes, Varon mentioned you were doing some recon.In my office.”I felt the blood rush to my face.“I didn’t think it was you, I was checking to see if Serena bought the cables for one of the offices before I made any accusations.”“Serena? I don’t think she’s capable of anything that technical.” She studied my face, realizing I was serious.“I’ll look into it—we have to chase down every lead, even if it seems small.Or unlikely.She’s been investigated, but it’s possible we missed something.”I didn’t respond.Every time I came up with an argument to connect Serena to the accident, a counter one cropped up: she was technically running the magazine now, but she didn’t get to replace Parker.She bought the cables but didn’t seem to have the knowledge to use them.“I was going to ask Sophie if she knew or saw anything unusual about that day or Serena, but never got the chance.”One of Candace’s sculpted brows rose.“Better that you didn’t.We have enough extra noses in this situation.” Tapping her chin with her index finger, she mused, “I don’t know why Serena would need any extra technical equipment.” Clearly the fact stuck in her head and puzzled her, as unlikely as Serena’s involvement seemed at first.“If she was involved—and I’m not saying she was—I don’t think she did everything herself.”I nodded.“That makes sense.But who would she be working with?”“Has Dante ever shown any interest or aptitude for working with that kind of technology?”I was taken aback, but the answer came quickly enough.“No!”“But he is pretty agile on that Vespa.Enough to drive defensively.Maybe offensively,” Candace countered.He was slick on the scooter.I was hesitant to either agree with her or defend him.It was getting harder to sort through the facts and not make guesses that could get people—maybe innocent ones—in lots of trouble.What if I was wrong about everything?Taking a deep breath, I answered as honestly as I could.“That’s true, but I’ve never seen him talk to Serena.I know what you’re going to say: that I like him and I might not be thinking logically, and I admit that I don’t know him that well.But I also don’t want to accidentally help someone who might be involved.The only thing he said to me that might connect him to what happened is that he asked to meet Mrs.Jennings.”“Did he push hard? Pressure you?” Her voice was soft, but it felt sharp like steel.“No, he didn’t insist or offer me anything.I honestly think it’s more of a ‘meet a celebrity’ thing.”Trying to meet the First Lady was something most people would want to do if they got the opportunity—I knew, because I was thrilled to get the chance.Could anyone really blame Dante? I waited, holding my breath, not certain I wanted to hear what she was going to say if it was going to be bad for him.Candace replaced the cork, her long, strong fingers forcing it deep into the bottleneck.She appeared to be debating something.“I don’t think I’m giving away any state or bureau secrets by telling you that Dante came back with a clean record.” She rested back in her chair, a slight upturn at the corners of her mouth that wasn’t a smile but an expression of adamant determination.“We’ll keep an eye on him.”That didn’t sound too bad—not much different from what they were already doing with me.But there was still something else—I knew one person who had the know-how to use those cables.“What about Taj?” I said.“What about Taj?” She almost sounded defensive.“Taj is … very tech savvy.” I didn’t want to say how savvy.It might be nothing, and I didn’t want to get him into trouble, any more than I wanted to get Dante into trouble—but I had to tell Candace everything.“I’m aware of that—he also came back clean.And he has the curse of being a celebrity, which makes it easy to track his movements.Always watched and never alone.” I nodded, and she took a sip of wine, staring at me over the rim of her glass.“It’s good that you’re so observant, and it’s smart that you’re conscious of the company you keep, especially in this situation.That’s a sign of good judgment, which I’m sure your parents and former headmasters would be thrilled to hear about, but, unfortunately, can’t.”I gave her a wry look.“Too bad.A good word from you might help when my parents try to get me into a new school.They may even let me have a say where my next prison will be.”“I might be able to help with that, once this is all over.”“Thanks.” I rose and picked up my backpack.“Goodnight, Candace [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]