Chapter 29
TWENTY-NINE
Adam Deader had no qualms about being dragged to the substation. He was positively delighted as he was escorted into the room, looking around and soaking up every ounce of the experience. He reminded Zoe of her nephew’s first time at Disneyland.
“Why is he so giddy about being called in?” Zoe stifled a yawn, wincing at Adam’s megawatt smile.
“He’s delusional narcissist bordering.” Aiden cracked his neck. “How deep that delusion runs, I don’t know yet.”
Her nerves jangled at Adam’s glee but she managed to form a polite smile. “Thank you for coming in this late, Adam.”
“Of course.” He gave her an impish smile, like they shared a secret. “I’m hoping you have come to your senses and require my expertise to solve this case?”
“Maybe.” She placed a printed copy of his meeting with Annabelle captured on camera. “Why don’t you start with this?”
Adam’s smile faltered. “Where did you get this?”
“An advanced piece of technology called CCTV,” Zoe quipped. When Adam didn’t reply, she continued, “For someone who has a lot to say on the evening news these days, you’ve gone awfully quiet.”
Aiden’s eyes shifted as if he were doing a mental calculation. “There is no point in denying it.”
“Is that it?” Zoe sat back and leaned back in her chair, enjoying dismantling some of his arrogance. “You wanted to help us solve the case and didn’t care to mention something this important?”
He pressed his lips in a thin line. “I didn’t realize it would be important. I didn’t know her that well. This was the first time I was meeting her. Before that, we only talked on the phone a couple times.”
“Why?” she asked.
“She reached out to me.” His chest puffed as he regarded them. “It was about a week before her murder. She had some information she wanted to share.”
“Am I supposed to do a drumroll?” Zoe asked flatly.
“She stole a product from Harrington Group,” he declared.
Zoe’s chest deflated. Her grumpy, sleep-deprived mood melted away and her curiosity piqued. She looked at Aiden who narrowed his eyes in suspicion.
“What product?” Aiden challenged.
“It was a video game. She stole the code and the prototype.”
Adam was telling the truth. Dawn was keeping the theft under wraps—specifically, it hadn’t been made public that the product was a video game. “And she told you about it? Why?”
“Because she wanted to sell a story, obviously. That’s why we are all here, aren’t we?
” His titillating eyes landed on Zoe. “This whole notion you have about dispensing justice and doing the right thing, it’s all fiction.
It’s a man-made construct. And while you are living your fiction, I am merely recording it. ”
“Morality is fiction?” Aiden countered. “It’s interesting you say that considering you’re a suspect in a murder.”
His face fell. “I’m a suspect?” And then excitement unfurled on his face. “What a most thrilling development.”
“Okay, cut the crap. Why didn’t you tell us that you knew Annabelle and met her days before?” Zoe said, exasperated.
“Because I didn’t have any information related to her demise. She didn’t tell me she was being threatened. She simply wanted me to write an exposé on the Harringtons.”
“What exposé?” Getting information out of him was like untangling a knot one thread at a time.
“There was something about this prototype of the video game that was controversial and disturbing. That’s why she stole it.
She thought it was unethical of the company to develop this in the first place.
She never told me exactly what was so troubling about it.
I even asked to see the game but she refused.
She didn’t trust me entirely, I suppose.
It’s why I met her that day. I was trying to convince her that I can’t write anything if she doesn’t give me more. ”
Zoe sieved through his words. “I’m still not convinced about why you didn’t come forward. And then you went ahead and told everyone that Jackie is missing. You’ve been gaining a lot of visibility and traction since this case started. How many clicks are your blogs getting?”
“Enough for The Seattle Times to offer me a job.” He smiled shamelessly.
“As much as I’m relishing finally becoming a big fish in a small pond, I have nothing to do with this.
I’m merely recording what is going on and adding a slight twist to it.
Though, me becoming a suspect was something I didn’t see coming.
Writing myself into a story. Now that’s a challenge. ”
She stared at him dumbfounded but Aiden was enthralled. Adam wasn’t just thirsty for gossip, weaving stories to keep himself entertained; there was a component of something twisted in him. The glaring lack of empathy. Like he viewed the rest of the world as characters in a story.
“If you don’t mind, I think I have more writing to do.” He stood up and buttoned his coat. His twinkling gaze lingered on Zoe. “Something tells me you will be an intriguing character in this story, Agent Storm.”
A blazing, hot energy jolted up her spine as Adam walked away. “If he were innocent, he’d be defensive, uncomfortable. Instead, he’s reveling in it,” she said to Aiden.
“That’s the first problem. He’s reducing people—real, living people—to characters in his personal story arc. That level of depersonalization? It’s dangerous. It means he doesn’t see them as people. He sees archetypes, players, set pieces.”
She shuddered at Adam’s reveries. “Aiden, what was that?”
“That, Storm, is our top suspect.” He began gathering his things. “I’d check his alibi. Are you not going back to the motel?”
“No.” She stifled a yawn.
“It’s one in the morning.”
“I… can’t,” she admitted. She didn’t feel well.
A fury was gathering pace inside her. Her mind felt as though it were trapped in a box with the sides closing in on her.
She needed answers in order to escape but the questions kept piling up.
“Do you think Jackie was also involved in the theft of the prototype?”
“Possibly. It also means the Harringtons have another motive to want the women dead.” He stopped by the door. “You sure you’re staying longer?”
She nodded. He lingered, waiting for her to change her mind or confide in him. She felt his looming presence suffocating. When he finally left, she exhaled and dove back into work.
Zoe spotted Lisa also toiling at her desk. “Want some?” she said, offering her Sour Patch Kids.
Lisa looked up, tired and fighting tears. “No, thank you.”
“Is everything okay?”
Lisa opened her mouth but didn’t say anything.
Didn’t she have a husband? But now that Zoe thought about it, lately Lisa had been avoiding going home, working long hours, and often staring at her phone with a haunted look.
Her home life must be in turmoil, but Zoe didn’t feel close enough to her to comfort her. “How long have you known Adam for?”
“A couple years. I’m surprised he hid this information from us. Thought he would have loved to be involved from the beginning.”
“Perhaps he planned it this way.” She chewed on a piece of candy, savoring the taste exploding in her mouth. “He’s been attacking Harrington Group. Maybe he’s been doing more than just reporting the story. He’s creating it too.”
“I found something,” Lisa said abruptly. “Remember we talked about any competitors of Harrington Group? Anyone who would benefit from this?”
“Yeah…”
“I was just looking at other gaming companies in the state, digging through announcements and calling in a few favors. Look at one of the websites.”
Zoe took the phone. It was a page showing the team behind a midsize company out of Seattle with offices in Port Angeles and Tacoma. The director of R&D was a familiar face. Pudgy face, doe-like eyes, and golden curls.
Jackie’s half-sister—Amy Andrews.