Chapter 8 - THE MAN RICHARD WAS REALLY AFRAID OF
Richard eventually agreed to speak.
Not because of Claire.
Not because of Ethan.
Because Margaret began blaming him.
Her attorneys suggested Richard masterminded everything.
Richard retaliated.
The alliance collapsed.
Marcus sat across from him.
Richard looked exhausted.
“You want Margaret?” he asked.
“I want truth.”
Richard laughed.
“Nobody wants truth. They want useful truth.”
“Try me.”
Richard admitted the courtship had been arranged.
Margaret paid him $500,000 over three years through consulting agreements.
He was supposed to influence Claire.
Push merger.
Secure voting proxy.
When Claire discovered Helix, Margaret proposed the fake death.
Richard claimed the coffin plan was Margaret’s.
Evidence showed otherwise.
He designed the sedation system.
He bribed Dorsey.
He coordinated Dr. Ames.
Both guilty.
Then Marcus asked:
“Why did you pull the gun at the funeral?”
Richard stared.
“Because once the coffin opened, I was dead anyway.”
“You could have surrendered.”
“You don't understand Margaret.”
Interesting.
Richard feared her.
“She had people watching me.”
“Who?”
“I don't know names.”
“Convenient.”
“Check Helix payments.”
They did.
A private security contractor.
Bastion Risk Group.
Its owner, Victor Sloane, had worked for Margaret for fifteen years.
He coordinated surveillance.
Tracked Claire.
Followed Jonathan.
Helped move Claire after kidnapping.
Now the conspiracy had another operational arm.
Sloane was arrested attempting to leave through Montreal.
His devices contained photographs.
Claire.
Ethan.
Marcus.
Even jurors being screened for Richard's eventual case.
That changed security immediately.
But it also provided overwhelming evidence.
Location logs.
Messages.
Payments.
One message from Margaret:
The girl is sentimental. Use the son if necessary.
Claire read it once.
Then never again.
Her mother referred to her as “the girl.”
Her son as a tool.
Whatever bond she had spent her childhood trying to earn did not exist in the form she imagined.
Therapy helped Claire accept a painful truth:
You can grieve a relationship while the person is still alive.
Ethan asked whether they would visit Margaret in jail.
“No.”
“Ever?”
“I don't know.”
“Good.”
Claire smiled.
“You're allowed your feelings.”
“So are you.”
He had been listening.
May you like
Good.
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