AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’ve never heard of the man, and you know I’ve overseen all the initial start-up details personally,” Max enthused. “We’re still four weeks from breaking ground. What did he want?”
“Enzo said Pullman needed copies of the final plans with the revisions you made. Since you’re out of town, he wanted me to turn my files on the project over to him.”
“What? That is bullshit! There were no revisions. The city has had copies of those plans for months. It has been approved, and the permits have been issued. I’m not going to ask if you gave him anything because I know you didn’t. But what do you think he’s after?”
“My guess is he’s trying to mess with the project. Maybe set you up for cutting corners or making changes under the radar. Hell. Who knows what’s in that slimy little bastard’s brain? You need to come home.”
Max fell silent. There was no way he would leave Sebastian and Morgan. Not while they were in danger.
“Are you still there, Max?”
“I am. Got lost in my head for a few seconds. It’s not possible right now. There’s a lot going on. I’ll be in touch soon. Thanks for watching my back, Stephen.”
“Stay safe, Max.”
Max’s next call was to his assistant, Rohan Burman. He learned Enzo and Fatima had both been by the office on separate occasions with ridiculous excuses to access Max’s office. He wasn’t worried. If they tried to open his desktop without his password and retinal scan, it would fry itself. All his files were backed up and encrypted. After speaking to Steve and Rohan, he felt he was closer to confirming who had betrayed him.
His third call was to Fatima to tell her he had just arrived in Winston-Salem and would be staying the night. She feigned indifference. Their conversation was brief. She was rushing off to a breakfast meeting. Max turned off the phone and drove back to the motel.
Max dropped off the burner phone and $5000 cash. He instructed Gavin to make sure the phone was not turned on until it was taken to the remote location. Whoever was monitoring the scene should take extreme care to remain hidden, and under no circumstances should they try to retrieve the burner. Max insisted their safety was paramount over anything else. If no one showed up after today, the assignment would be concluded. Max gave him a number to call.
After collecting his few belongings from his room, Max ran through the parking lot in the pouring rain to meet Sebastian and Morgan at the rental car. Morgan was already seated in the back, so he sat up front with Sebastian.
“Ready to go?” Sebastian asked from the driver’s seat.
“Just a minute,” Morgan said. “I have a voicemail from my friend Nicole. She must have tried to call me back while I was in the shower.”
They both turned toward Morgan when she began to speak.
“Hi Nicole, it’s Morgan. How’s everything going? Are the fish behaving? They like to fight over the food sometimes. … What? … Say that again?”
Max watched her smile fade and her cheerful voice fall flat. He and Sebastian exchanged worried looks. Morgan’s eyes squeezed shut as she listened. Something terrible had happened.
“I’ll call her tomorrow. … I understand. ... We’ll talk about it when I get home. Tell the maintenance guy I appreciate him putting in a new door.”
After Morgan hung up, she covered her face with her hands.
“What happened?” Max asked.
Pulling her trembling hands from her face, she hugged herself for support. She was doing her best to stay calm, fighting back tears. With a quiver in her voice, she detailed her father’s visit to her elementary school to speak to the principal, then recounted the destruction of her apartment and the terrorizing of a mother and her infant across the hall. Nicole relayed a message from the principal that it wasn’t safe for the kids for Morgan to return to work until the situation was resolved. Morgan was to call her if she had questions.
“Christ,” Max said, his voice tight. He felt the heat rise in his neck at the thought of the innocent mother and child being held against their will. His thoughts flashed to Izzy and how she must have felt when his father threatened to take her child from her. “They’re animals. All of them.”
Sebastian practically climbed between the seats to reach Morgan’s hand. “I’m so sorry, Morgan.”
Max could see the fear and guilt in her expression. She held herself responsible for the sins of her father. He knew there was nothing he could say at that moment to change how she felt. It would be a process.
“They tore the place apart. I assume they were looking for the ledger. Maybe money, too. Pops left me his assets in his will, but Asa wouldn’t know about that. I only learned about the will last week. Now I’m basically suspended from my job.”
“Asa?” Max questioned.
“My biological father’s name is Asa Kline, but he is nothing to me.”
Max nodded understanding.
“Thank God you weren’t home,” Sebastian said with relief. “He’s a dangerous man.”
“Oh goodness. What am I going to do now?”
