Chapter 61
CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE
ORION
I headed toCosmic Bistro, the restaurant where my mom had been killed all those years ago. I was tired and needed to go see Elena soon.
There weren’t many customers present in the restaurant today. I entered and walked by a table with three men and nodded to them. Two women and two men dressed in dark suits occupied another table.
As a businessman, I scanned the horizon for interesting things. Details mattered. But they mattered even more to a thief.
Right now, I was confronting a man who had stolen more than money from me and my family.Jonah Reimann had cunningly misled me. He’d always been the more studious of the two brothers. Respectable to others, with good grades, and good manners, he displayed himself as an admirable citizen of society. But underneath those pretty layers lay a monster.
I hated myself for not seeing any of this sooner.
Jonah had created a chaotic financial mess for the Reimann Corporation. I was dealing with it as best I could. Jonah and Jasper would pay for hurting my mother, my father, The Condor, Kate, and Elena.
“Hey.” I walked up to the table, pulled out a chair, and folded myself into it.
“Want anything to drink?” Jonah asked. He wore a lightweight jacket over a polo shirt with dark khakis, looking polished as always.
“I’m good. Thank you.”
“So what did you want to talk about?” He looked at his watch and then at his phone.
“Thanks for making a detour to Providence before you head back to Sweden.”
“Anytime. I like this city. It’s good to catch up with my cousin.”
“There are some things that need to be resolved today.” I didn’t want to waste time. “Did you send me this text message?”
I pushed my phone over for him to see the threat, forcing me to resign.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jonah said calmly. He was prepared for this meeting. What did he have up his sleeve for this confidence?
Leaning in, I grabbed the pepper shaker and twirled it around before placing it back on the table.“I don’t have time for your games, Jonah. I want the truth.”
His friendly expression changed to dark and impassive, transforming into an unrecognizable person. A menacing smile curved onto his lips.
“I didn’t know you enjoyed raping girls at the campground and recording it with Jasper. You guys are sick.” I flicked him a look. “Are there more recent videos of you and women? Be honest, Jonah. Unless you’re afraid of me.”
A muscle ticked in his jaw. “I’m not afraid of you, Orion. But you should be afraid of me.”
“Why?”
He glancedaround the restaurant. There was no one close to our table. No new customers had entered since I came in.
“Because I killed your mother. I killed Kate.” He smiled through narrowed eyes. “And your father is recovering from a coma because of me. The old man should’ve just died. Lucky bastard.”
My fingers clenched, and I gathered every ounce of will to not pummel him right now. But everything he told me I already knew. Still, to hear his confession enraged me even more. He dismissed people’s lives as though they didn’t matter.
He had information I needed, and I was just getting started.
“Why?” I seethed. “Sounds like you’re a trained dog killing for them?—”
“You don’t know what they’re capable of!” He interrupted with a loud voice. “You don’t know who I am to them.”
“Actually, I do, Jonah Lance Rotherfield—the illegitimate son of Benedict Rotherfield, also known as the Duke of Cambridge, who’s an elite member of The Trogyn.”
Jonah flared his nostrils, surprised that I knew about his real identity.
“You’re not part of the Reimann family. You have no right to anything. You killed Uncle Ray because he discovered you weren’t his biological son. And neither is Jasper. Were you angry at your mother for telling my uncle the truth?”
Jonah could deny it all he wanted, but I had evidence and the motive for his crimes.
He clenched his fist. “How long have you known this?”
Jonah had killed my mother because she found out he and Jasper weren’t my uncle’s sons. She had copies of their birth certificates hidden under the rocks on Quintile Island. This crucial information, along with names of other corrupt wealthy people within our family circle, was the reason Jonah and Jasper wanted to buy my island.
He probably knew something was hidden on the island, but didn’t know its location. The DNA from the gold button belonged to Jonah, which meant he’d been on my island. I found a recording of a figure diving into the water during the night. It had to be him.
The information my mother had left me proved The Trogyn had planted a spy in my family—the most powerful banking family in the world. It had started with my uncle’s wife, who bore him children so they could inherit a portion of the Reimann fortune. My mother and father feared for my safety. For that reason, my father believed it was best he kept his distance, showing he had no emotion for his son—his heir. They believed my father didn’t love me and wouldn’t leave his fortune to the son who disappointed him.
“You’re being used by people who don’t care about you. You think that poisoning my father would give you the upper hand?”
“He should have died,” he barked. “You had no interest in the Reimann Corporation.”
“You’re wrong.” I smiled. “Let’s just say I wanted my enemies to believe I wasn’t interested. The Reimann Corporation is my family’s legacy, and I’ll protect it to the day I die.”
“Your father hates you, and you hate him.”
What I’d shared with him during our teen years resulted from teenage angst that needed venting.
“I lied.” I watched as the evil in his eyes intensified on me. “Why Kate?”
“She was at a café and overheard my conversation with Jasper about your mother’s death. She threatened to tell you. So I followed her home, forced her to take pills, and displayed her in the closet for you.”
I wanted to rip him to shreds, but I was reminded of the bigger picture. “The people who created that video of me and Chantel are being arrested as we speak.” I glanced at my watch and knew the boys were already on it.
Chantel and Jonah had been dating, and he probably told her to get close to me.
“Give me all the names of the elite members and I’ll let you go,” I demanded. “Who’s sitting at the top?”
“Fuck you! I’m not telling you shit. You can’t do anything to me.” Arrogance gleamed in his eyes.
“You’re being used by The Trogyn, Jonah. They’ll kill you right after they use you. Do you think they’ll let you live after this mess you’ve caused? Being the son of a prominent member means nothing to them. You’re just one piece of the puzzle.” I pointed at him. “Like everyone before you, you’re disposable. And so is your biological father.”
“If you don’t hand over all the evidence,” he spoke through gritted teeth, “I’ll kill her.”
An iceberg formed in my stomach, completely interrupting my flow.
Jonah saw my weakness, grinned, turned on his phone, and showed me a picture of Elena stuffed in a car trunk.
A wave of wrath broke through the iceberg, hot and destructive. I charged at him, threw a powerful fist into his face, and gripped his neck, squeezing.
“Where is she?” I seethed, not recognizing the voice that escaped my mouth.
I could kill him right now, break his trachea, and watch his eyes roll back as life drained out of him.
Elena needs you to be calm and collected.
Jonah kicked me, but the rage had solidified me into an immovable boulder. I threw another punch at him and shoved him away. If my hands stayed on him, he’d die right now. Jonah had already given me enough to work with. I needed to pivot.
I turned my head to the table with the three men on my team who had risen after seeing me punch Jonah. They nodded, understanding my command. The salt and pepper shakers had recorded our conversation.
They approached him. “Jonah Reimann, you’re under arrest for the murders of Helen Reimann, Pablo Toledo, Samuel Donatello, Carlos Sanchez, and Kate Sinclair.”
“Who the fuck are you?” Jonah stepped away from them, looking around the café where the women and men from the other tables approached, surrounding him.
“FBI and INTERPOL,” said the men and women.
Jonah darted away from them, but was caught by an officer, who read him his Miranda rights.
He glared at me. “You set me up!”
“You set yourself up,” I seethed. “Enjoy your prison stay. But I have a feeling you’ll have a visit from The Trogyn soon.”
Satisfied with the fear on his face, I turned on my phone and looked at Elena’s phone tracker. I had her phone tracked because of the mounting danger swirling around us. The phone showed she was in the woods by an industrial park.
An incoming call from Reid flashed across my screen. He wouldn’t have called me unless something had emerged.
“What do you know?” I asked him.
“Elena never returned from her coffee run. I hacked into Coffee Hut’s ordering system, and the app showed she never made it to the store to pick up her order.”
“They have her.” Every fiber of my being blazed with fury and concern.
Stay calm. The tracker shows she’s moving. Maybe she’s escaped.
I clung onto hope for dear life as I gave Reid the location of where her phone had pinged. “I’m on my way.”
As I made my way out of the restaurant, I called the boys. “Release the drones.”