Chapter 18
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
Noah adjusted his sportscoat, more out of habit than necessity, buying himself half a second to settle the adrenaline surge still riding under his skin. “My job,” he said, making sure he kept his voice void of emotion. “You said you’ve seen my show. You know how this works.”
“This is an ambush. I don’t know what you think you’ve got on me, but it’s bullshit, and I want you to stop,” Matias said. “This is not what I agreed to.”
“In the five years I’ve been doing this show, I’ve only been wrong on live TV maybe ten times,” Noah said, rolling his shoulders back, loosening the tension he didn’t want appearing on camera.
“There are things I don’t know when it comes to you.
I freely admit that.” He held his father’s gaze.
“But that doesn't mean I’m wrong about you.”
He glanced over his shoulder.
Ziggy gave him a single, steady nod. Her support gave him more courage than she might ever know.
Claire stood rigid near the wall, color drained from her face, and her hands tight at her sides.
This wasn’t the Claire Noah had known the last few months.
She wasn’t the confident woman who’d come on way too strong.
This was a woman who knew her mask was about to be yanked off, and there wasn’t a damn thing she could do about it.
Noah didn’t take pride in that. Not this time. Maybe because it was personal.
“We’re back on in ten seconds,” Noah said. “Buckle up. Last segment.”
He watched the countdown like he always did, putting on that million-dollar smile he was so famous for.
“Welcome back, folks,” Noah said, turning back to the camera, his tone shifting seamlessly into something controlled and deliberate.
“When we cut to commercial, I was trying to understand what I’d done that had offended Matias so badly that he felt the need to threaten me, make an implied threat against my girlfriend, and also choose to use someone I know to do his dirty work.
” He leaned forward, closing the space just enough to make it feel like a dare.
“Which includes having my ex accuse me publicly of something I didn’t do. ”
Noah took a breath. He needed to. The rush of words had spilled out of his mouth faster than they should have. “Tell me, Matias, who helped you put Monica in the hospital? Was it our mutual friend? Or did you hire someone else?”
A sharp intake of breath from behind him cut through the room.
Noah didn’t look away from his father, even though he could feel the shift around him. This wasn’t how he usually ran his show. He didn’t corner people like this. He let them talk themselves into it, let the truth surface slowly and inevitably.
But Matias wasn’t most people.
And Noah didn’t have the luxury of time.
“Are you having a good time?” Matias asked.
“A good time would be sitting on my back patio with Ziggy, drinking tequila and listening to the water hit the shore,” Noah said.
“So, no. This isn’t fun. I didn’t want to do this.
And since my show is about truths,” he looked directly into the camera, “let me be clear that I’m doing this interview because I felt manipulated.
I felt threatened by a man who I used to call dad.
” He shifted his gaze back to his father.
It was a calculated move for television.
He wouldn’t have done it like that had it just been the two of them.
But there was no way in hell he could’ve said the word dad while looking Matias in the eye.
All those years of being stuck between the father who’d showed up and the one who killed twelve women?
Gone. Evaporated faster than Noah could even think it.
“And I don’t want to see another person I care about get hurt in whatever twisted game you’ve decided to play because you’re bored, can’t kill, and pissed off at me.”
“I think you’re the one who has anger problems.” Matias leaned back and drummed his fingers on the armrest like he’d just declared checkmate.
“All those years of pent-up daddy issues.” Matias shook his head.
“During my trial, I’d often look over my shoulder, and I’d see you sitting there, just staring off into space with a blank look in your eyes, void of emotion.
And I’d watch those news programs where your mother, may she rest in peace, would shuffle you out of the federal building and you’d be all stoic, looking straight ahead, ignoring the microphones and cameras.
I didn’t know whether I should be proud or sad. ”
“There’s no reason for you to be proud of that moment because it had nothing to do with you and everything to do with a teenager coming to terms with the fact his father was a rapist and a murderer.
” Noah picked up the puck, turning it once in his hand before setting it down with quiet intent.
“One of the reasons I’ve kept my identity hidden for so long is that, as an investigative reporter myself, I’d want to know what the hell was going on inside the head of a serial rapist and murderer.
I’m one of the key things everyone brings up on the anniversary of your sentencing.
” Noah turned toward the camera. “And since we’re sitting here, and we have a little time, I’ll tell you. I’m sure my viewers are curious, too.”
Noah took in a slow, calming breath. “Three things went through my head. The first one is a bit obvious because anyone in an investigative journalist’s shoes would’ve wondered how I could have missed that.
How could my father, the man who’d showed up to every hockey game I played and cheered proudly for me, could’ve killed so many women.
” Noah ran a hand across his head. Something he’d never done on a show.
His makeup and hair artist was probably going nuts right about now.
“The second thing was, and this one tortured me for a long time, was wondering if you’d you ever hurt my mother. My aunt. My cousins.”
“I never,” Matias said.
“So, I’ve been told.” Noah let his father have that one tiny, shining truth in the sea of dark ones.
“But what I concentrated so fiercely on in the courtroom was how to become invisible. How do I stop having to be your son? And let me tell you, it was a hard thought. I struggled with it because, to me, you were like any other dad. Only now, I was going to have to tell people you were a killer, and I just wanted to be someone else. I tried for nearly three years to be Angel. On both coasts. And it sucked.”
“You’re still Angel. You still have my blood running through those veins of yours.”
“True.” Noah focused on his father as if he was speaking only to him, and the audience no longer existed.
“But you had nothing to do with the man I became. I might not have changed my name right away, but Angel died in that courtroom.” Noah hadn’t realized how freeing it would be to say those words.
His chest loosened, and he suddenly felt unburdened.
“Let’s stop screwing around,” he said. “You know what you did. You used that young woman over there.” He jerked his thumb over his shoulder.
“Who? Ziggy?”
“Nice try.” Noah let out a short, humorless laugh.
“My researcher. The one who brought in my presents. The one who’s been—” He cut himself off, not because he didn’t have the words, but because he didn’t need them.
Everyone in the room already understood.
“I don’t have a problem laying it all out,” he said instead.
“This show has been unlike anything I’ve ever done. ”
Matias leaned back, folding his arms, trying for control again. “I think you’ve lost your touch, kid.”
“That’s too bad,” Noah said, “because your friend—the woman you’ve been promising to take care of for months, the one putting money in your commissary—she’s going to serve time.”
“What?” Claire’s voice broke sharp and high. “I didn’t do anything wrong. All I did was deliver a few things. Give away some money.” She pointed straight at Matias, her hand shaking now. “He arranged all of it. It was him. He—”
“I’d be quiet if I were you,” Matias snapped, pushing to his feet. “I don’t know what she’s talking about. I didn’t hire anyone. If this is true, she did it on her own. All of it.”
Noah’s hands tightened on the arms of his chair, ready to move, but the guards were already stepping in, faster than he could react.
Everything broke loose at once.
The cameramen moved closer, chasing the chaos rather than pulling back from it. The door opened, and suddenly the room filled—warden, Jag, detectives, bodies crowding a space that had felt too empty seconds ago.
“Liar!” Claire shouted. “How could you, Matias? You promised me this would work. That I’d get my break. You said I’d be on camera.”
“You are,” Ziggy said quietly.
That landed harder than the yelling.
Noah flashed the cut signal toward the cameramen.
They ignored him.
Of course they did. It was good fucking television.
Four minutes left.
Four minutes of this going out live.
There was no fixing that now.
Claire lunged—she went straight for Matias, her hands reaching for his throat. “I did everything you asked,” she screamed. “I risked my job for you. I beat someone for you—”
Detective Amy grabbed her, wrenching her back before she could get a grip.
The guards had Matias pinned and cuffed in seconds.
“And that’s a wrap,” one of the cameramen said, breathless, like he’d just witnessed something he knew he’d be replaying for years.
Noah crossed the room in three quick strides, caught Ziggy’s hand, and pulled her with him into the control room before anyone could stop them. “Are you okay?”
“I think I’m in shock,” she said, her voice quieter now, like the adrenaline hadn’t caught up yet. “Did that really just happen? On live TV?”
“It did.” Noah leaned back against the wall, the weight of it finally catching up in his chest. “What the hell was I thinking?”
“That you wanted higher ratings?”
He huffed out a laugh. “That’s not funny.”
“It’s a little bit funny.”
He dragged a hand down his face, then let out a real laugh this time, sharp and disbelieving. “That was either the dumbest thing I’ve ever done… or the most brilliant.”
“Well,” she said, “the dumbest thing you ever did was letting me go five years ago.”
“Fair.” He pulled her into his arms, holding on a little tighter than usual. “So, the smartest thing has been begging you to take me back.”
“Maybe.” She exhaled, reality starting to settle in. “This isn’t over.”
“I don’t want to go into work tomorrow,” he said, cupping her face, grounding himself in her again. “I want to stay home with you, in bed, and eat muffins.”
Noah figured they’d be allowed to take the day off. Or at least work from home while the fallout from this settled from a roar to a whisper. Although that could take weeks.
Or, they could be fired.
Either way, his secret was out. He never had to worry or look over his shoulder again. And he had Ziggy. That was more important than anything. No matter what happened going forward, he had the woman he loved, and life couldn’t get any better than that.