I turned to the first page and soon was so mesmerized, I didn’t hear Decker walk up behind me.
“Hi,” I said, setting the book down and turning to move my legs so he could sit beside me.
“Good book,” he commented when I set it on the coffee table.
“Are you asking or saying?”
He smiled. “Saying.”
“It is good. Very good, in fact.” I picked it back up.
“Mila…”
“What’s on the flash drive, Decker?”
“A couple of things.”
I stood and put the book back on the shelf. “Just tell me.” If I sounded irritated, I was. Why tell me there was something on it if he didn’t intend to tell me what it was?
“Sybil is your half-sister, as well as Adler’s.”
“Okay,” I whispered, clutching the back of the nearest chair.
“Come sit down.”
When I did, Decker put his arm around me. “This will be more difficult.”
“Go ahead.”
“What’s on the drive confirms that Adler’s father is the man who attacked you in the stairwell.”
I closed my eyes and let my head drop back against Decker’s arm. This wasn’t unexpected news, particularly after he’d told me that Marshall and my father had been roommates in college.
“Let’s go back to Sybil being my half-sister. Do you think she was aware of it?”
“There’s no way of knowing how long she knew before her death, but it might offer some explanation as to why she and Adler were spending time together.”
I nodded. “What else was on it?”
“Proof that Livingston developed technology your father took credit for. Somehow, Judd managed to file the patents with himself listed as the inventor rather than Adler’s father. The original drawings as well as the technical data that was on the flash drive essentially prove your father stole the technology. That’s an oversimplification.”
“Not that I have any reason to defend my father, but is it possible he purchased the technology?”
Decker shook his head. “If that were the case, Livingston would have been listed as the inventor and your father and/or his company would be listed as the assignee.”
“Do you think he killed Sybil?”
“I don’t know. There’s an equal chance it was Livingston.”
“Sybil swallowed the flash drive rather than give it to her killer.” It should’ve shocked me, didn’t. It was like I’d become immune to all the crazy shit swirling around me.
“That’s right,” Decker murmured, nodding.
“Marshall wouldn’t want proof that he attacked me exposed. My father wouldn’t want anyone to have proof that he was a thief.”
“Based on what I read, Livingston stood the chance of being compensated in the billions if he were able to prove the inventions were his.”
“You keep saying Livingston. I’m not going to fall apart if I hear his name, Decker. I just said it myself.”