“You mean don’t throw your career away. But I’m done protecting you. I’ve made enough mistakes without owning yours too.”

  Alyssa’s eyes grew hard again, and Nadine knew she was done appealing for sympathy.

  “No one will believe you, you know. You’re a felon now. You work retail.” Alyssa made a disgusted gesture at the register. “Your word is meaningless.”

  “You’re probably right.” Nadine kept her voice calm. “But I can’t control that. All I know is, I’m not going to lie anymore.”

  Alyssa’s blue eyes flashed. She leaned in closer to Nadine. “Listen to me. I am thankful to you.” She spat out each word. “But if you fuck me on this, if you tell one more goddamned soul, I’m done playing nice.”

  Nadine arched an eyebrow. “What are you going to do, shoot me and dump my body in the Potomac?”

  “I won’t need to. I’m a senator. I can send you back to prison with the snap of my fingers. And this time, you won’t get out in two years.” With that, she turned and marched off.

  Bella stood by the door, gawking at her.

  “What are you looking at?” Alyssa snapped.

  Bella crossed her arms. “Ma’am, we’re closed. I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”

  Nadine snorted. She couldn’t help it.

  Alyssa turned to scowl at her one last time before she turned back to her bodyguard. “Get me out of this small-town hellhole.”

  Bella locked the doors behind them, then hurried over to Nadine. “What did she say? What did she say?”

  Nadine exhaled. “She’s not happy with me.”

  “But what did she say? Did she admit it?”

  “What do you mean?”

  Bella gestured behind Nadine. “Jason’s security cameras! They record sound, and there’s one right behind you.”

  Nadine’s vision blurred as she absorbed Bella’s words. “That’s why you wanted me to stand here. Not because of the cash.”

  “Yes!” Bella bounced impatiently. “Did she say anything incriminating?”

  Nadine couldn’t breathe. She managed a grunt, then cleared her throat. “She said she took the money.”

  Bella inhaled sharply. “Holy shit.”

  Chapter 30

  Bella sank into Grady’s chair and booted up his computer.

  Nadine squeezed into the small space behind her.

  “Yuck, the keyboard is full of food.” Bella wrinkled her nose. “Um, but that doesn’t matter. Obviously.” She tapped the spacebar. The screen came to life and prompted for a password.

  “Do you know his password?” Nadine asked.

  “Yeah, it’s right here.” Bella pointed to the yellow sticky note on the monitor that said Password12345.

  “Oh, for God’s sake.” Nadine rubbed her forehead.

  “Could you please sit down? You’re freaking me out.” Bella had never seen Nadine this wound up.

  “Fine.” Nadine dragged a chair next to her and sat.

  They waited in tense silence. Then the desktop finally appeared. About one hundred icons littered the screen, including numerous games and some that looked like malware. Bella searched through them. “I really, really hope Jason put the software on here.”

  “What’s that?” Nadine pointed at an icon called OO Closed Circuit Cameras.

  “I think that’s the company security system. The one without sound.” Bella kept scanning the cluttered desktop until she found a silhouette of an eye behind a magnifying glass. Spy Master Pro. “There!”

  “Click on it. Fuck.” Nadine sounded about ten seconds away from coming totally unglued.

  “I already did.” The cursor had turned into a little blue wheel.

  The screen filled with three windows against a gray background. The wheel turned again, and full-color images of the store appeared in each one.

  “This is it!” Bella pointed at the window showing the front of the store—the feed from the camera mounted behind the register. When she double-clicked, the video expanded to fill the screen. “Damn. It’s good quality. How much did he spend on this?” Every detail of the register counter was clear.

  Nadine leaned forward. “How do you view the earlier recordings?”

  “I don’t know!” Bella studied the tabs at the top of the screen. She clicked a pixelated clock graphic, and fields appeared. “Okay, it looks like you can enter a specific day and time. Let’s try eight, when the store closed.”

  The screen jumped to an image of Bella leaning over the sound system. Music played in the background, then stopped when she pulled the wire.

  Nadine’s voice could be heard from somewhere off screen. Are we having another dance party? The audio was crisp and clear.

  Bella moved the video ahead five minutes. She saw herself leaving the frame to unlock the door, and then Alyssa appeared in vivid color, striding up to Nadine. “Oh my God.”

  Nadine’s back was to the camera, but Alyssa, captured at roughly a three-quarter angle, was clearly identifiable. No one could deny who it was.

  Alyssa began to speak. At first, the conversation was vague. There were references to the truth without either woman saying what exactly was a lie. Then, Alyssa called Bella a “disrespectful little hick.”

  “Hey!”

  “Shh! Listen.”

  And then Alyssa said it. That’s why I took the money last time.

  Took the money. “Holy shit! She admitted it. She confessed on camera. She—”

  Nadine shushed her again, placing a hand on Bella’s shoulder.

  Alyssa stepped closer to Nadine and lowered her voice. Bella turned the volume all the way up. Alyssa’s words were softer but still audible as she threatened to use her influence to send Nadine back to prison.

  As Alyssa walked away from the camera, her faint voice called Cheriville a “small-town hellhole.” That comment alone would be a scandal for a politician, but given the context, it was a mere footnote.

  “This is incredible,” Bella said. “When this gets out…” A horrible thought occurred to her. “Wait. You do want it to get out, right?”

  Nadine looked ready to barf on the desk, but she nodded. “I do. I’m ready to tell the truth.”

  “Okay, now what do we do? Upload it to social media? There must be a way to download the video. Or I could film the screen with my phone.”

  Nadine massaged her temples. “Let me think. It’s not legal to record audio on surveillance cameras.”

  Knowledge popped into Bella’s head. “Virginia is a one-party state.” She had learned that a year ago when Raelyn had considered recording a creepy manager at the bank. “And we consented, didn’t we? I mean, we kept working here after Jason installed these things.”

  “That’s true. And I’m part of the conversation. But these cameras also record conversations between customers where neither party is aware.”

  “That’s Jason’s problem, isn’t it?” If Jason got in trouble along with Alyssa, that would be a bonus.

  Nadine blew out a breath, ruffling her bangs. “We need a reporter, someone to document everything here. The recording, the surveillance system, everything Alyssa said on camera. Once the story is published, the dominos will fall.”

  “You must know reporters from your time in politics. Do you still have their numbers?”

  Nadine’s expression soured. “I do, but I can’t think of anyone I’d like to gift with a scoop of this magnitude. My old contacts were…unkind…after everything happened.”

  Bella clapped her hands. “I know someone! Tom Rossi at the Washington Post. Have you heard of him?”

  “Hmm. I don’t think so. He might be new.”

  “I met him in South Carolina. He’s the one who told me where Alyssa would go for breakfast. He was there when I confronted her at the diner. He didn’t hear anything, of course, but he was curious. And he gave me his card.”

  “He’s not local, though.”

  Bella bounced in her chair. “But he travels with the Jackson campaign. If Alyssa’s here, the press pool must be in town too, right?”

  “Maybe…or maybe she’s staying in Washington and snuck down here without anyone knowing.”

  “Washington’s only a couple of hours away. He could make the trip tonight. I mean, the footage isn’t going anywhere. We can stay here and, you know, guard it.”

  Nadine pressed her lips together. “Okay. Call Tom.”

  Bella retrieved her purse from the break room and dug through the contents until she found Tom’s business card near the bottom, glued to a breath mint.

  She couldn’t stop fidgeting as she dialed the number. Please pick up.

  He answered on the second ring. “Rossi.”

  “Hi, Tom. It’s Bella Clarke. I met you at the church in South Carolina the other day and saw you again at the Guignard Diner. You gave me your card.”

  He paused, then said, “Right. I remember.”

  “How close are you to Virginia right now?”

  “I’m actually home in DC. First time in weeks.”

  Perfect. He could totally make the drive. She just had to hook him. “I have an incredible scoop for you. Like, Pulitzer Prize-worthy shit. But I need you to drop everything and come to Cheriville, Virginia, right now.”

  “Uh, what’s the scoop?” Tom didn’t sound excited at all. He must get calls from crackpots all the time.

  “It’s about Alyssa Jackson and what really happened with Atlas Health Source.”

  “You’re going to have to give me more than that. Even if you had real information, I’d need evidence and sources to write a story.”

  Crap. He wasn’t biting. “Can you video chat with me? I can prove this is legit.” She glanced at Nadine, who nodded, seeming to guess her next move.

  “Fine. Hang on.”

  The video call came through in seconds. When Bella accepted, Tom appeared on the screen, looking scruffy in his dim apartment.

  Bella positioned the phone so that she and Nadine were in the shot together.

  Tom sat up, his jaw dropping. “Whoa.”

  “Hi, Tom,” Nadine said. “This is Nadine Bayani, here with my friend Bella. You want to do what she’s telling you.”

  Tom was already scrambling to his feet. “What’s the address?”

  Chapter 31

  Bella estimated it would take Tom almost three hours to arrive, accounting for traffic. They’d have to stay at Overstock Oasis past eleven p.m., but she didn’t see another option. The cash was secure in the safe; they’d deal with it later. She refused to leave the store, and their precious evidence, for any reason—not even for dinner.

  They snacked on stale cookies from the food section, saving the box to pay for them the next day, but it wasn’t much of a meal. After an hour, Bella ordered a large Hawaiian pizza. When it arrived, Bella opened the doors a crack and passed the delivery guy the cash. He slid the pizza in sideways, then scampered away.

  Bella took the pizza back to the break room and set it on the table, where Nadine was pacing back and forth. “Mmm, this smells so good—oops.” The cheese and toppings had slid to the side. “No problem, I’ll just move it back.”

  Nadine barely glanced at the mess. “I don’t know if I can eat.”

  “Come on, you need something.” After arranging the toppings on the crust, Bella scooped out a slice and dug in. She sighed with pleasure as warm oil and carbs filled her mouth. “Mmm, it’s so good. Seriously. Just try it.”

  Nadine sat and broke off a small slice. She took a dainty bite, then another, and soon she was inhaling the pizza alongside Bella. They ate in silence until they had devoured half the pie.

  Nadine sat back. “God. I needed that.”

  “Told you. So, how are you doing?”

  “I feel sick. I don’t know why. I should be happy.”

  “It makes sense. I mean, this is huge.” Bella felt queasy too but for a different reason. What would happen to them as a couple when Nadine wasn’t trapped in Cheriville anymore? Bella wanted Nadine to prove her innocence more than anything, but she was scared.

  Nadine picked at a half-eaten piece of crust. “I think a small part of me found comfort in how wrong it had all gone. When I realized there was nothing I could do to make things better, to change anyone’s mind about me, it was easier in a way. Does that sound perverse?”

  “No, it makes sense. Sometimes I feel that way about flunking out of college. Like, it obviously pales compared to what you’ve been through, but that year at Mary Washington was really rough for me. When I got the letter that I had lost my financial aid, I felt sad and ashamed but also relieved. I could go home. I didn’t have to try and fail anymore.”

  Bella looked around at the dingy break room where she had clocked into work for the past decade. Ten years of dealing with Grady and Jason. “My job sucks, but it’s safe.”

  Nadine took her hand and squeezed it. “Maybe we’re both ready to face the things that scare us.”

  “Yeah, maybe.” Bella squeezed back but then looked away.

  If Nadine reclaimed her reputation, there’d be no limit to what she could do. But Bella couldn’t see a way out of her own life. She knew now that she was capable of more, that her own fear and confusion had held her back. But she had been stagnating for so long, she worried it was too late to change her life.

  Even if she got treatment for ADHD or whatever was wrong with her, she was still ten years removed from her last day in school. Her entire resume consisted of a high school diploma and her promotion to third key at Overstock Oasis.

  Bella’s phone chimed with a new text message. I’m outside. “Tom is here.”

  Nadine dropped Bella’s hand. “Okay.” She closed her eyes and nodded as though convincing herself of something.

  “I’ll go get him. You can wait here.” Bella hurried to the front of the store.

  Tom stood at the glass double doors, wearing an oversized black hoodie. Somehow the sight of him made it more real. The Washington Post had arrived.

  Bella unlocked the doors. “Thanks for coming.”

  Tom looked around the dimly lit store. His face was pale, with stubble and shadows, but his eyes were bright. “Where’s Nadine? And what’s going on?”

  “She’s in the back.” Bella locked the doors behind him. “And it will be easier to just show you. Come on.” She led him to the break room.

  Nadine sat with her arms crossed next to the half-eaten pizza. “You must be Tom.” She gestured to the box. “Slice of pizza?” Now that they had company, Nadine’s walls were up. If Bella didn’t know better, she’d think Nadine was perfectly calm.

  “Uh, no, thanks. Maybe later.” Tom blinked at Nadine as if starstruck. “Are you… Did you ask me to come because you want to make a statement about Alyssa Jackson?”

  Nadine pushed her chair back and stood. “Not exactly. We want to show you something.”

  Bella led the way to Grady’s office. She sat at the computer and offered the other chair to Tom while Nadine stood behind them.

  Bella pulled up the software and punched in the exact time of Alyssa’s arrival. But instead of clicking play, she turned to face Tom. “Nadine never made a deal with Atlas. She was completely innocent. What you’re about to see—”

  Nadine nudged her. “Just show him.”

  Bella clicked the mouse, and Alyssa appeared on the screen.

  “Oh wow.” Tom leaned forward to watch. When Alyssa started to speak, he scrambled for his notebook.

  Nadine stilled his hand. “Watch first. We’ll play it again.”

  By the time the clip ended, Tom’s face had paled another shade. “Holy fuck. Who set up these cameras?”

  “That would be the assistant manager, Jason Carson. I can spell his name for you.”

  Tom turned to Nadine. “Are you willing to speak on the record about this? About what really happened?”

  Nadine didn’t hesitate. “I am.”

  He opened his notebook and clicked his pen. “I need to see it again. I want to write down every word. Then I’ll call my boss.”

  “Of course. Take your time.” Bella played the clip again while Tom scribbled.

  Then he stepped into the hallway to make his call. Bella and Nadine could hear bits of the conversation, including, “I swear to God I’m not fucking with you.”

  A few minutes later, Tom returned. “They’re waking up the lawyers. In the meantime”—he turned to Nadine—“you said you’d speak on the record?”

  Nadine nodded. “I’ll give you the interview.”

  “May I record it?”

  “You may.” Nadine moved to the door. “But I’d be more comfortable in the break room.”

  “Sounds great.” Tom’s head bobbed. “And if you don’t mind, I think I would like a slice of that pizza.”

  * * *

  By the time Nadine finished the interview, it was midnight. By then, a second reporter had arrived from the Post’s Richmond bureau.

  The lawyers agreed the newspaper could publish the transcript of the video and an image from the footage but not the actual video. This was about what Nadine had expected. While she had never practiced First Amendment law, Nadine knew that courts generally protected reporters who published the contents of recordings. Besides, after it all came out, Alyssa would have more pressing legal concerns than a conflict with the paper.

  After the reporters left for the night, Nadine and Bella still had to deal with the deposit they had left in the safe hours earlier. So after they finally locked the doors behind them—five hours after closing—Bella and Nadine drove to the bank on deserted streets.

  “Will you get in trouble for this?” Nadine asked as she steered her car into the drive-through. “For making the deposit so late?”