Chapter 47
FORTY-SEVEN
The biting chill of the evening air cut right through Zoe’s sweater.
The grand estate before them loomed in the dim glow of the garden lights, its towering columns and polished stone a testament to old money.
She adjusted the folder in her grip, her fingers tightening around the crisp bank statements inside.
“Storm.” Aiden climbed out of another car. His breath misted in the cold as he walked toward her. “Lisa told me to find you here. Where were you? I waited for you at the station and you didn’t answer your phone.”
Zoe struggled to find the words. “I… we’ll talk about it later, okay?”
His gaze was suspicious. “You look… different. Is everything okay?”
“Yeah.” Her teeth chattered in the wind.
“Here.” He shrugged off his coat and draped it over her shoulders before she could protest. He frowned at his own action.
His scent enveloped Zoe and she wanted to close her eyes and slip into a dream where the day she just had never happened.
She rang the doorbell. The heavy oak door swung open. David Harrington stood dressed in a tailored charcoal suit, his sharp eyes flickering between the two.
“FBI,” David greeted them warily. “To what do I owe this unexpected pleasure at this ungodly hour?”
Zoe stepped forward, leveling him with an even stare. “We need to talk, Mr. Harrington. Inside.”
He hesitated for just a second, as a muscle in his jaw ticked. “Of course. Do come in.”
The warmth of the house enveloped her after what had been a very long night. Simon had ordered her to resign from the case and suggested a replacement. But this case was personal now.
It was her mother’s actions that had inadvertently led to Michael’s death and the massacre.
Her involvement had spurred a decades-long obsession in Jackie and the other killer, leading to two deaths and a disappearance.
This “job” was Rachel’s biggest regret. The one that had finally given her the courage to walk away from this life.
Zoe’s bond with Pineview Falls ran deeper.
It was discovering a critical part of herself, uncovering her history.
Now she needed to see it through to the end and finish the cycle started by Rachel.
The scent of aged whiskey and expensive cologne hovered in the air.
David led them into his study. A lavish space lined with dark mahogany bookshelves and a roaring fireplace where Dawn had admitted not so long ago how, in order to save her company, she had created an immersive game based on a fire that had killed her daughter.
“Drink?” David offered casually, heading to the liquor cart.
Aiden shook his head. “No, thanks. This won’t take long.”
He smirked, pouring himself a glass of scotch anyway. “Somehow, I doubt that. My mother isn’t here, by the way, in case it’s her you’ve come to see.”
Zoe dropped the folder onto the polished desk between them. “Let’s talk about Adam Deader. Heard of him?”
The name hung in the air like an uninvited guest. David took a cautious sip of his drink before setting it down. “Adam? The reporter?” He tilted his head slightly. “Yes, I’ve seen him on television a lot lately. What about him?”
Zoe flipped open the folder, revealing a series of neatly printed bank statements. She slid them across the desk. “You’ve been making substantial payments to him over the last few weeks. Care to explain why?”
He barely glanced at the papers. “He did some work for me,” he said smoothly. “Research. Writing. I pay for good information.”
Aiden leaned forward. “Research on what exactly? Because from what we can tell, he wasn’t writing anything official for you. Yet these payments suggest he was well compensated for something.”
David’s features tightened and he blinked rapidly. “I don’t appreciate the insinuation, Dr. Wesley. Whatever Adam did for me is my private business. I’m under no obligation to discuss it with you.”
“We’re investigating two murders and a disappearance, Mr. Harrington,” Zoe said. “I suggest you cooperate.”
“You’re wasting your time,” he said finally, swirling the amber liquid in his glass. “Whatever business I have with Adam has nothing to do with the murders.”
Zoe and Aiden exchanged a glance.
Aiden’s voice dripped with threat, which made the hair on Zoe’s arms stand on end. “Why don’t we ask your mother? I’m sure Dawn would be able to shed some light on what business you have with Adam. I wouldn’t be surprised if you’re siphoning money from the company to pay him off.”
David’s nostrils flared. The fire crackled behind them, the only sound in the thick silence. “This doesn’t leave the room…” He glared at them. “Can you promise that?”
Zoe sat down and crossed her legs. “You don’t get to negotiate here, David.”
He sighed and slammed the glass down on the table. The remaining liquid splashed onto the marble top. “Our company has been reporting losses. Things have not been looking good for a while now. Way before this product was stolen.”
“A product that you encouraged Jackie and Annabelle to steal,” Zoe said.
Surprise registered in his eyes. “Yes. Mother hates me for the part I played in the incident. She’ll never be able to forgive me.
Which is why she relishes every opportunity to put me down, to not let me grow, to remind me how small I am.
” His teeth gritted. “I’ve fought with her several times to get me on the board, to give me some decision-making power but she’s adamant.
She claims she cares about nothing more than the company and still she won’t give me a chance to save it.
It’s her way of having her revenge.” His mirthless smile didn’t reach his glassy eyes.
“Over a month ago, a competitor approached me. They wanted to buy Harrington Group. We struck a deal. If I ensured that the stock price fell below a certain figure, low enough so that when the company is up for sale this competitor can swoop in and buy it at a very low price, they will make me the CEO.”
“You’re intentionally sabotaging your family company,” Aiden stated. “That’s why you planted the idea of the theft.”
“It’s not a family company.” David scowled.
“It’s a one-woman show. If she cared, she would have given me a chance.
Besides, doesn’t it disgust you? A mother creating a game from something that killed her daughter and five other kids.
I was negligent because I got distracted by some pretty woman, but Mother is just being a bitch .
” He spat out the last word with undisguised contempt.
Tears collected in the base of Zoe’s throat.
Pretty woman . She stared at David—a man who had also known her mother, albeit a different side to her.
How was she when she wasn’t just being Mom?
When she was on the job? Did she walk differently?
Did her voice change? Would she dress bolder?
She couldn’t ask him. She couldn’t let anyone know about Rachel’s involvement.
She had to protect her mother’s dignity.
“So where does Adam fit in?” Aiden said.
“I’ve been paying Adam to create negative publicity about the company.
Initially the plan was to run the story of the theft.
But when Annabelle was found dead… everything changed.
The stakes were higher. Adam sensed an opportunity.
He began to strongly link the deaths and disappearances to the company. ”
“It was his idea?” Zoe raised an eyebrow.
“Of course it was,” David snorted. “Have you not met the guy? He gets off on this. The story of a product theft is too dry for the likes of him. At the end of the day, I didn’t care what the end result was. Whatever made the company look bad.”
“That’s convenient for you, isn’t it?” Aiden pointed out. “Two employees of the company killed when you want the stock price to crash.”
David’s eyes widened. “I didn’t have anything to do with this! That’s preposterous.”
An idea came to Zoe. She showed him a picture of the code found on Jackie that Adam’s dog had consumed. “Does this mean anything to you?”
David took a long look at it. “No idea. What is it?”
Zoe didn’t answer. But it didn’t escape her how much of a coincidence it was that these women going missing and turning up dead was working out so perfectly for David.
“Isn’t this convenient for him?” Zoe whispered as they were being ushered out of the house. “I’ll get Lisa to check his alibi.”
“The two people who could have testified against him are dead,” Aiden agreed.
“Does he fit the profile?”
“From what I’ve seen of how much his mother belittles and controls him, yes. Maternal dominance leading to compensatory violence.”
Zoe could imagine how this all worked out for David—a motive combined with a method that was justified in his broken mind. He had lost a sister to a fire that started because he hadn’t paid attention. And then a heaviness settled inside her.
She glanced at David over her shoulder. He knew her mother, he knew Rachel before she was Rachel.
Her phone rang. It was Ethan. “Hey, how’s it going?”
“Agent Storm, Lisa’s busy working with the rangers looking for Amy, so I can’t reach her, but remember the break-in at Annabelle Stevens’s?”
A flicker. “Oh, yes, jeez, so much has happened since then I just assumed nothing came of it.”
“We got a hit on CODIS. Ed Morgan.”
“Ed Morgan?” Her eyes flashed to Aiden. “The detective who investigated the massacre.”