𝑺 𝑬 𝑹 𝑬 𝑵 𝑰 𝑻 𝒀 (18+)

twenty-two

S E R E N I T Y

♥

After more than ten distressed and drunk calls to Vanessa, she finally got up and came over to my house. It was around two in the morning when she knocked on my door, sleep still in her eyes and Alec by her side. "I'm here, we'll fix this okay?" She comforted. Alec gave me a warm smile and sat beside her on my couch.

"Please tell me you found something else?" I wanted to get rid of that Katrina bitch once and for all. Not just for Noah and I's sake but for Andrew as well. As angry as I was with him he deserved someone who truly cared about him, not someone who used him for God knows what.

"Alec did some research at my request and I think he found something interesting, babe?"

Babe? The term felt foreign coming out of her mouth but it certainly suited her.

"A mentor of mine worked on the Armstrong case. He was close to nailing them but suddenly his superiors insisted he drop the case."

"Drop the case? I thought they didn't find any substantial evidence to convict?"

Alec rolled his eyes and massaged his temples, I could tell he was tired and I felt bad for disturbing him and Vanessa's night. "That's what the general public was told but they were forced to stop their investigation. My buddy's firm ended up getting a one million dollar payoff to keep the case quiet."

Was I shocked? Not in the slightest. It was naive to think that everyone in power made their money honestly. Dirty money soiled the pockets of these men and women every day.

"So Armstrong International could very well still be laundering money?"

Alec shrugged, "it's more than possible."

"Who do you think they have connections to?"

"I wouldn't get involved with that Serenity. Could be dangerous," Alec scolded. He almost sounded like my father. "I'm just wondering, I don't plan on looking into it." Though I was curious I knew my limits. If the Armstrong's truly were involved with dangerous criminals I didn't want to go anywhere near it.

"I'm not sure how much of what I told you will help. You can threaten her with it but if an entire law firm can be paid off to cover it up—"

"Then the police probably know about it too, gotcha."

I went to grab a glass of wine I'd left on the coffee table but Vanessa grabbed my wrist and shook her head. "You're cut off," she warned. I rolled my eyes and began hugging my pillow in defeat, "Ness? Do you have anything?"

She pulled out a brown folder from her bag and handed it to me smiling. I opened the folder and was presently surprised by what Vanessa had just gifted me. There were photos of Katrina and several notable men. The photos were accompanied by news stories exposing the men for being involved with various crimes though they all denied their involvement. The common denominator in each story was Katrina. Conveniently, after less than two months of dating these men, they'd all gone under criminal investigation.

"So she's framing them? Like a cover for her family or whoever they're involved with?"

"That's what it looks like. I suggest you do something quickly before Andrew ends up with cuffs and not the fun ones."

I ignored Vanessa's shamelessness and tossed the information on my table. They had dropped a bomb in my lap and now I had to figure out how to detonate it with minimal damage.

"I appreciate both of you doing this for me, really." I checked the time on my phone and cursed, "you guys can stay here? I hate to make you drive all the way back home."