In Love and Diplomacy

Chapter Forty-One: A Lioness of Teeth and Claws

"And felled in the night, by the ones you think you love
They will come for you
Oh, to see what it means to be free
Of the shackles and the dreams
That you claim to see"

- Bastille, "Daniel In The Den"

Chapter Forty-One

My voice rang out in disbelief. "Are you kidding me?"

The confusion on Warren's face was quickly overtaken by defensive anger. He made to stand, but that was all it took for Reed to yank me back and shove Warren down in his seat.

"Don't do it," Reed warned.

"You thought it was me?" I was almost yelling at that point. "Why the hell would it be me?"

"Someone in your office worked with my brother and those other bastards," Warren spat. "Seaplast didn't even have a fighting chance!"

"And you thought it was an intern? You can't be that dumb, can you? What power would I have to do anything for that case?"

"Maybe you should ask your boss why you were the suspect for it," Warren snarled. "And if it wasn't you, then who the hell was it?"

My boss? Wait, Cruz? What would Cruz know why I was blamed for this?

The horrible, poisoning question of whether Cruz knew had hovered on the horizon, but now it sunk its claws deeper into my heart. Did Cruz know about the corruption? Was he part of it? And still another expansion on that painful possibility — was Reed right? Had I been thrown under the bus by the man I'd looked up to?

"What do you mean? What about Cruz? Did he know? Was he part of this?" I was furious and heartbroken as questions tumbled out in rapid fire.

The rational part of my brain knew Warren didn't have answers. If he'd known whether Cruz was the culprit, he wouldn't have asked me who else it could be. Hell, we wouldn't even be here. I wouldn't be here.

"Where the hell is my lawyer?" Warren yelled. "Let me go or arrest me!"

Simon's phone dinged. He glanced down at it, and a wide smile broke over his face. "Fine. Warren Cawton, you're under arrest."

The air was sucked out of the room in one solid whoosh. Warren was gobsmacked as bewilderment bloomed.

"Encrypted emails on your laptop can be traced back to this building. Our analysts are working on them now; we'll know soon who you worked with. We also found floor plans of Mr. Cruz's house," Simon said. "You know, they say don't be a criminal if you're not smart enough to pull it off. And you, Mr. Cawton, are severely lacking the required skills."

"You can't arrest me! Just because you're a wannabe cop doesn't mean you have any legal power," Warren protested.

"Actually, a citizen's arrest is perfectly legal in California when a felony's been committed. And you've done about a dozen of those, Warren," I said fiercely.

"I didn't do anything. The courts found me not guilty, and they'll do it again."

"Doubtful. There won't be any interference this time," I sneered. "I always did wonder how Seaplast was found guilty but you and your buddies walked free. Were there bribes involved in that, too? Did members of the jury get calls from your father? Because even with the AG's office working against you, you still walked away."

"The jury said it wasn't my fault. It wasn't my job to figure out the laws, so if they were broken, it wasn't because of me. I hadn't been involved in that side of things, I just handled the money and grants." Warren broke into an innocent expression before smiling. "The jury agreed I had no idea what Seaplast was doing — I was only trying to help the environment."