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ChapterTwenty-Two
Dominik
She’s cute when she’s angry.
“My father has done nothing but contribute to his society,” Eden said as she pointed in my face. “He doesn’t even have so much as a fucking parking ticket to his name, and I’d know because I’ve pulled the records of my family. And before you start judging me for that, everyone gets curious. When my father’s garage was audited a few years back, I took on his case with the I.R.S. and I dredged up everything about his past that I could. I found no restraining order, no court dates, no nothing. He’s not an assaulter, and he sure as hell isn’t a stalker. So, I don’t know where the fuck your researchers are getting their information, but they’re flat-out wrong.”
I slid my finger along my lower lip. “The restraining order was sealed.”
She blinked. “Then, how did you gain access to it if it’s sealed?”
I shrugged. “I have my ways.”
“Still, that doesn’t explain the random drop-off of their friendship. I’m telling you, from the horse’s fucking mouth, that my father would’ve never done anything like that. Even as a kid. He was too kind-hearted. He’s always been too kind-hearted. And anyone that sits on your board of investors, I’m going to automatically assume is nothing but a blood-thirsty shark who will do anything and say anything and enact anything in order to get their way. So, instead of bullying a man with a fucking mechanic garage that he works at ninety hours a week just to make ends meet, why don’t you turn your assault against the man who’s really got something to lose.”
As she turned and stomped off toward the back of the jet, I swiveled my chair around. I pondered her tirade as she started clacking mercilessly against the keyboard of her laptop. I didn’t disagree with her, either. She was spot-on in her assessment of both her father and Thaddius himself.
She was also right about the kind of person that made their money sitting on investment boards for prominent companies such as mine.
Something doesn’t add up.
I peered over my shoulder and saw Eden’s body trembling, even from a distance. Her hands kept sliding off the keyboard of her laptop and she slammed it closed before turning her back to me. Her shaking shoulders told me everything I needed to know. Her sniffles caused me to turn my gaze forward in order to give her the privacy she needed to feel however she needed to feel.
And just as I pulled out my phone to check my email, it dinged to life.
“Perfect timing,” I whispered.
“What was that?” Eden asked through her tears.
“Just some work stuff,” I said mindlessly.
“Is it something about my father?”
I opened the email and promptly lied. “Believe it or not, I have other things I’m working on other than what’s going on with your family.”
She scoffed. “Asshole.”
There wasn’t a file attached to the email, but rather a picture. A singular picture that, when rendered to its fullest extent, showcased something that gave me pause. I zoomed in on the black and white picture, making sure I was looking at what I believed it to be. And after turning the picture every which way to make sure I got a good, hard look at it, only one thought crossed my mind.
Guess everyone’s got a dark side.
The picture had obviously been taken through a window. The angle of its perched position told me it was probably from the second story of some cookie-cutter house in a suburbia neighborhood. It certainly wasn’t California, though. There was way too much grass around those houses for them to be in Los Angeles. And through the window of the house the cameraperson was peering into was Eden’s father’s face, clear as day. A young, strapping man, with his hand wrapped around someone’s neck.
As he held them up in midair.
Another juicy piece of the puzzle.
I peeked over my shoulder one last time only to find Eden lying down on the sofa at the back of the plane. I turned my attention toward the email I needed to shoot off to my research team before they made any other attempts to contact me. That picture brought so much of this story into focus, and I needed them to pivot again.
So, I kept the email short and sweet.
Everyone,
Keep digging until you figure out who he’s holding up. I need to know who that is.
D. Drake
I slid my phone back into the breast pocket of my suit coat. I swear, I’d never had so much fun working a job like this in all my fucking days. This family was a juicy as they came, and I simply couldn’t stop.
