Chapter 12 - Victor Hale
The truck hit a steel support beam and stopped.
Dale jumped out first.
Holt’s agents surrounded him.
“Hands where we can see them!”
Victor stayed in the passenger seat.
Sixty-something.
White hair.
Heavy face.
Calm eyes.
Too calm.
He opened the door slowly.
“Everybody relax.”
Holt aimed at him.
“Hands.”
He raised them.
Dale was shaking.
Victor wasn’t.
He looked straight at me.
“You look like your mother.”
My stomach turned.
“Don’t.”
“She had your eyes.”
“Shut up.”
Holt moved between us.
“Victor Hale, you are being detained.”
He smiled.
“For what?”
“Start with conspiracy to commit federal program fraud.”
He nodded toward the cabinet.
“You’ll have trouble proving ownership.”
Price stepped forward.
“I have the server logs.”
Victor finally lost the smile.
He looked at Price.
“You.”
Price gave a nervous shrug.
“Me.”
Dale cursed.
Victor turned toward him.
“You said the boy was handled.”
Dale looked terrified.
Holt heard it.
So did everyone else.
“Handled how?” she asked.
Nobody answered.
Victor glanced toward the broken doors.
Calculating.
Holt stepped closer.
“Don’t.”
He smiled again.
Then he looked at me.
“You came home because of your father?”
“Yes.”
“Family makes people stupid.”
“I’ve learned that tonight.”
His eyes sharpened.
“You really want to dig up your mother?”
“She’s already dead.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
I stepped around Holt.
“What happened?”
Victor tilted his head.
“She found numbers she didn’t understand.”
“She was an accountant.”
“She understood enough to become annoying.”
My hands curled.
Holt said, “Natalie.”
I didn’t move.
“Did you kill her?”
Victor smiled.
“You think life works like television?”
“No.”
“Good.”
He looked around the warehouse.
“Then you understand accidents happen.”
Something inside me went cold.
“Did you cause hers?”
His smile faded.
“I told her to stop.”
That was enough.
I stepped toward him.
Holt caught my arm.
“Commander.”
Victor laughed.
“Your mother had the same temper.”
I wanted to hit him.
More than I had wanted anything in years.
Instead, I looked him in the eyes.
“Keep talking.”
He stopped laughing.
“Smart.”
He glanced at Price.
“Smarter than him.”
Price stiffened.
Victor continued.
“Ask your little lieutenant who gave him access.”
I looked at Price.
He went pale.
“What is he talking about?”
“Nothing.”
Victor smiled.
“Ask him.”
“Price?”
He looked at the floor.
Holt moved toward him.
“Lieutenant.”
Price finally whispered,
“Marjorie gave me the password.”
My chest tightened.
“What password?”
“To Dale’s private account.”
“Why would she help you?”
Price looked at me.
“Because she’s the one who started all of this.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
“She contacted me first.”
Holt frowned.
“When?”
“Six weeks ago.”
“Why?”
May you like
Price swallowed.
“She said they were going to kill Robert Reed.”
