Page 110 of Wicked Brutal

“Lake house. Ally thinks she was fourteen or fifteen. She was outside with Tobias while Roman was on the phone.”

Dad looks at me. “Our lake?”

“Yeah.” I can picture it too easily. Ally on the dock. Tobias probably waist-deep in water hunting something alive. Roman on the porch talking because his daughter is just his daughter and therefore why the fuck would he care what she hears? “She remembers Roman saying Vaughn wanted too much.”

“Too much what?” Theodore asks.

“She doesn’t know.”

“Anything else?”

“That Vaughn knew the number before he agreed.”

Theodore looks at Arthur. “Sounds transactional.”

“Carlisle,” I continue. “She was younger. Maybe thirteen. Roman and Victor were talking in his study. Victor said Carlisle was getting nervous.”

“What did Roman say?” Callum asks.

“Keep him comfortable. Nervous people make mistakes.”

Gideon writes that one down.

“Aster came from Jane.”

Dad looks at me. “Jane?”

“She found something in Roman’s office. Ally heard her ask why there was Aster money in an account.”

Theodore sits forward. “Exact?”

“That’s how Ally remembers it.”

“What did Roman do?”

“Got pissed that Jane was in his office. Told her she didn’t understand what she was looking at.”

Dad’s jaw tightens. “And Jane?”

“Apologized.” Nobody needs me to explain why Ally remembers that. “Geneva,” I say. “Roman went when Ally was around fifteen.”

“Business?” Theodore asks.

“Maybe. He told Jane he was in D.C.” That gets everyone’s attention. “Ally found out because later she heard Victor ask Roman whether Geneva had been worth the trip.”

Arthur’s pen moves. “Anything else?”

“Victor asked if anybody saw him.”

Callum’s eyes narrow. “And?”

“Roman said nobody who mattered. Montreal was another summer at the lake. Victor complained that it was expensive. Roman said it was cleaner than New York.”

“Cleaner,” Theodore repeats. “Same language Tremblay used about Zurich?”

“Similar enough that Ally noticed when we were talking.”

Arthur writes that down. “And customs?”