Chapter 8 - VICTORIA MAKES A DEAL
Victoria Lane sat in an interview room with two detectives.
Her lawyer was forty minutes late.
She was done waiting.
“I want to make a deal.”
Detective Harris raised an eyebrow.
“You’ve been charged with aggravated assault.”
“I know what I’ve been charged with.”
“Then maybe wait for your attorney.”
Victoria leaned forward.
“You don’t understand.”
“That’s becoming a popular sentence today.”
“Richard Reed has people inside your department.”
Harris stopped smiling.
His partner, Detective Mills, said nothing.
Victoria looked between them.
“If you put me in county lockup, I won’t make it to morning.”
Harris sat back.
“Why would Richard Reed want you dead?”
“Because I failed.”
“To do what?”
Victoria’s eyes hardened.
“Control Alexander.”
Harris glanced at Mills.
“How?”
“I was supposed to get close to him.”
“You slept with him.”
“Yes.”
“Romantic.”
Victoria ignored the sarcasm.
“I was supposed to keep him busy.”
“With you?”
“With his company. His image. His money. His life.”
“Keep him from what?”
“His mother.”
Harris frowned.
“Why?”
“Because Evelyn was digging into the past.”
“What past?”
Victoria hesitated.
Harris stood.
“Interview over.”
“Daniel Reed.”
He stopped.
Victoria continued.
“Alexander’s father.”
“What about him?”
“He was murdered.”
Harris sat again.
Now Victoria had both detectives’ attention.
“Richard recruited me eighteen months ago.”
“For what?”
“He said Alexander was becoming unpredictable.”
“How?”
“He was considering selling Reed Dynamics.”
Harris nodded slowly.
“And?”
“If he sold, he’d leave the board. Richard would lose access.”
“Access to what?”
“Alexander.”
Victoria swallowed.
“My job was to make sure Alexander stayed.”
“You manipulated him.”
“Yes.”
“You pretended to love him.”
Victoria looked away.
Harris noticed.
“Pretended?”
She snapped back.
“Yes.”
But the delay had already answered him.
“What about Evelyn?”
“She caught me at Richard’s office.”
“When?”
“Two weeks ago.”
“What did you tell her?”
“Nothing.”
“Then why did she accuse you?”
“She followed me.”
Victoria’s voice became bitter.
“She told me I was using her son.”
“Was she wrong?”
Victoria didn’t answer.
Harris leaned forward.
“You pushed her because she threatened to expose you.”
“Yes.”
“Anything else?”
Victoria rubbed her hands together.
“She knew about Samuel.”
“Samuel Price?”
Victoria looked surprised.
“You know the name?”
“We do now.”
She cursed under her breath.
Harris said,
“Where is he?”
“I don’t know.”
“Convenient.”
“Richard does.”
“Then why are you alive?”
Victoria gave him a hollow smile.
“Maybe I’m not supposed to be.”
At the mansion, Marcus accessed a secured server.
Alexander watched over his shoulder.
“You sure this is legal?”
“No.”
“Good.”
Marcus glanced at him.
Alexander said,
“I’m having a bad day.”
Marcus searched old business records.
Samuel Price.
Accountant.
Reed Holdings.
Employment ended thirty-one years ago.
No death certificate.
No tax records.
No public address.
Then Marcus found something.
A property trust.
Wyoming.
Owned by a company called Northstar Agricultural Services.
Alexander stared.
“That sounds fake.”
“It is.”
Marcus opened the trust documents.
A beneficiary appeared.
SAMUEL J. PRICE.
Alexander leaned forward.
“He’s alive.”
Marcus nodded.
Then his screen went black.
A new message appeared.
STOP LOOKING FOR SAMUEL.
Alexander stared.
Marcus whispered,
“We’ve been breached.”
A second line appeared.
HE WON’T SURVIVE ANOTHER VISIT.
Alexander looked at Marcus.
“Another?”
Marcus’s face hardened.
He typed fast.
A third message appeared.
This time it included a photograph.
An old man tied to a chair.
Bleeding.
May you like
Alive.
And behind him stood Jonah Vale.
