Chapter Eight
Derek sat inside his cabin at his kitchen table, facing off with a detective from the Duluth Police Department.
While they should have taken him to the station, they also didn’t have any evidence that he had been the one to poison his boss.
All they had was a water bottle that other people had come into contact with throughout the morning.
He didn’t have a lawyer present but had nothing to hide, so he agreed to answer their questions.
They already knew he’d touched the water bottle, but proving that he’d put the antifreeze in it was another matter.
“You understand that you have the right to an attorney?” the detective, who introduced himself as Henry, asked.
“Understood,” Derek agreed. “I don’t have anything to hide, and I had nothing to do with Hugo’s death. I didn’t even know he’d died until a few hours ago.”
“Walk me through what happened here,” he said, motioning around the room.
Derek explained how he’d walked in on the guy ransacking his cabin. They’d found his bag in one of the black SUVs, so at least they had proof he wasn’t lying about that. Not to mention the destruction to his face. “Once I got the upper hand, I ran,” Derek finished.
“And that’s when you ran into Ms. Heath? How do you know her again?”
“I don’t know her, know her,” Derek explained.
The last thing he wanted to do was make it out as though he was using Alayah.
Maybe he didn’t know her well, but he did care about her and felt terrible that his situation put her in a position that might jam her up.
“We met briefly at the convention center before I left earlier today. After escaping the cabin, I ran across the highway, and she almost clipped me with her car. I asked her for a ride when she stopped to check on me.”
“And that’s when she told you about your boss’s death?” Detective Henry asked, taking notes on a pad in front of him.
“No, she didn’t tell me. I found out when I saw a news story at a gas station. She was kind enough to let me ride with her to Two Harbors to escape the guys who attacked me.”
“Maybe not the smartest move on her part,” Henry muttered, to which Derek shrugged.
“Probably not, but it was kind. I was bleeding from my nose and couldn’t see out of one eye. This,” he said, motioning at his face, “is a thousand times better than it looked when she found me on the side of the road.”
Henry’s grimace was barely noticeable. As though he’d been taught to school his expressions.
“She gave me an ice pack and left me at the gas station in Two Harbors. That’s where I learned that Hugo had died.”
“Seems odd that you didn’t call the police at that point,” he pondered, to which Derek shook his head.
“Since I didn’t know you were looking for me, why would I call you? The news just reported that the investigation is ongoing. It wasn’t until Alayah picked me up again that I learned what actually happened.”
“That’s what I don’t quite understand,” Henry said, leaning back as though they were just having a friendly chat.
“If you don’t know her and she doesn’t know you, why would she return?
It’s not like she could fight you off, and don’t tell me that a woman with her condition doesn’t consider that when she meets someone new. ”
Derek forced himself not to react to the detective’s goading.
What Alayah did last night would have been dangerous for any woman.
They both knew it. That was why her trust in him mattered so much to Derek.
It was also why he refused to tell Henry that Alayah had a gun in her vehicle.
He had no idea if it was legal, and he was not going to get her or Secure Inc. into deeper trouble.
“If you want the answer to that question, you may have to ask her,” he said evenly.
“However, it may be that she didn’t consider me a threat once she saw my face and I told her about the attack here.
After she explained what happened to Hugo and that the police were looking for me, I agreed to return to Duluth and go directly to the police station. ”
“And she just took your word for it,” he said again, as though he expected Derek to come clean that he’d been holding her hostage at gunpoint or something.
“Again, you’d have to ask her that question.”
“So, you’re on your way back from Two Harbors and decided to stop at the cabin one more time?”
“I asked her to drive past the cabin, mostly because I feared those guys would burn it down. When it was still standing, I convinced her to stop so I could run inside and get the evidence that would clear me.”
“You had to know they would already have it, Derek,” Henry said in that annoyingly placating tone they use as though they were trying to comfort you through your trauma.
“They’d have my bag, yes,” Derek agreed. “I was the one who told him the files they wanted were in it, but they weren’t in that bag. They were in my pantry in a safe that looked like a can of soup.”
“That’s a choice,” the detective said.
“When you work for Hugo Victor, you learn ways to protect things that need protecting.”
“A safe maybe?” Henry suggested. “Seems like that’s what they’re made for.”
“They’re also glaringly obvious in a place like this,” Derek said. “A can of soup will be overlooked every time.”
“Why even have it here?” he asked, leaning back as though that would take all the tension out of the room. “Why not leave it at the office? Or with Hugo?”
“The code is almost finished, and I planned to do some work on it while I was here. You never really go on vacation when you work for Hugo. You just do your work in a different place.”
“He sounds like the kind of boss a person could grow to hate.”
“I didn’t hate Hugo,” Derek said with a shake of his head, knowing those words were true when his heart constricted.
“He ran a multibillion-dollar tech business and there were always a thousand moving parts. As his assistant, I was entitled to vacations that I never took for that reason. However, since he was supposed to be safely ensconced in a tech conference, it was the perfect chance for me to get away even if I had to do some work while I was here.”
“In your cabin, which is conveniently located near Duluth.”
“This cabin,” Derek said, sitting forward to address the man, “has been here for three generations. There’s nothing sinister about it.”
“Other than the fact it’s not deeded in your name. We know. We checked.”
“You’re correct. My mother owns it, and although I’m the only one who has used it since she moved to Florida, the deed won’t come to me until she passes away. That’s how it’s always been. It wasn’t like I was trying to cover my tracks. It’s been that way since my grandfather owned the property.”
“But it’s sure convenient. Especially since no one at your office knew where you were staying either. Is that a coincidence, too?”
“No,” Derek said, the one word coming out harsh.
“That was on purpose. My vacation was none of their business. My job isn’t like most other jobs in the company.
The only person I report to is Hugo. Reported to,” he said, correcting himself when he realized what he’d said.
He was tired, sore, and this guy was getting on his nerves.
“What are you going to do now that the person you reported to is no longer with the company?”
“The thought hadn’t even crossed my mind,” Derek admitted. “Between the head-bashing, finding out the man I considered a friend was killed, and surviving an attempted kidnapping, I was more worried about my life than my job.”
Derek saw the irony. Eight hours ago, he’d been determined to break away from Hugo and start his own tech company, certain that he could no longer give his all to someone other than himself.
Now, he likely had no choice but to strike out on his own or return to working as a developer for Black Marlin Technologies.
That wasn’t a bad job, but still not the one that he saw for his future.
A man Derek didn’t recognize walked through the door in a suit and tie while carrying a briefcase. He stopped by the table and stared down at the detective. “Are you finished with my client, Detective Henry?”
“Your client?” the detective asked, sitting forward again.
A card appeared in the man’s hand, and he slid it across the table. “Ryland Frye, defense attorney. Excuse us for a moment.”
Derek stood and followed the attorney to the other end of the kitchen. “I didn’t call a lawyer.”
“Cal Newfellow did. He asked me to stop by because whether you’re guilty or innocent, you should never agree to speak to the police without representation present.”
“I didn’t kill Hugo Victor, and I have nothing to hide,” Derek said, exhaustion cloaking him as he tried to make sense of everything, now nearly eight hours after taking several shots to the face with a fist. “I’m a lot of things, but I’m not a murderer.”
Ryland walked over to the detective and stood before him. “We’re done here.”
“I’m not,” Detective Henry said, standing and posturing before the lawyer.
“Maybe not, and that’s your right, so either arrest my client or let him go. He’s been attacked and needs medical attention as well as food and sleep. If the city wants to provide that for him, arrest him, and I’ll meet you at the station to see your evidence.”
The detective’s face remained neutral, but Derek could see in his eyes that he was steaming mad to have their questioning interrupted.
“He’s not under arrest at this time.” Derek heard the threat in the last three words.
“The department must be informed of his lodging, and he cannot leave town. We may request formal questioning tomorrow at the station.”
“All of which is acceptable,” Ryland said, as though he was about to make friends with the detective.
“Mr. Benjamin will remain in Duluth at the hotel connected to the convention center. He will be in room 2142 after his medical needs are attended to. Once he’s had rest, he will be available to answer your questions.
Now, if that is all, we’ll be on our way. ”
Rather than wait for Henry to answer, Ryland grasped Derek’s arm on his way past and walked him right out the door. Derek couldn’t help but smile.
“Thank you,” Derek said with all sincerity.
“Don’t thank me. Thank Cal. He didn’t want you to say something incriminating because you were tired or had a head injury.
The detective shouldn’t have even requested a sit-down with you.
” He motioned for Derek to climb into a Mercedes SUV that looked very comfortable and very expensive.
He checked his face for blood before he sat down, just in case.
“I agreed to it,” Derek said once they were on their way.
“Doing anything else made me look guilty, I figured.”
“Well, you figured wrong,” Ryland said, glancing at him momentarily before looking back to the road. “If he thought for half a second that he had anything to hold you on, he would have arrested you immediately.”
“He does have my fingerprints on the water bottle. That was kind of a sticking point for me, even though I didn’t do anything other than what I normally do before every conference.”
“While that’s true, he also has Cal’s fingerprints on it, and apparently two stagehands, but none of them have been arrested either.”
“I didn’t know that,” Derek said with surprise.
“Of course not, because you were out here playing Daniel Boone while your boss was being murdered. Listen, I’m your counsel, so whatever we say privately goes no further than me. Before I formulate a plan, answer one question. Did you kill Hugo Victor?”
“Absolutely not!” Derek replied a little too loudly for his head. He rubbed his temple and sighed. “Sorry. I should have known you’d ask me that, but to hear someone think that you’re capable of murder is offensive.”
“As a defense attorney for twenty years, I assure you, everyone is capable of murder in the right setting and under the right circumstances, myself included. The man who has retained my services has killed more people than you have fingers and toes. For him, it was a necessary evil but one that weighs on him heavily, so he takes every chance he gets to help others.”
“Cal doesn’t even know me, though. We met briefly yesterday morning. That was it.”
“Maybe Cal doesn’t, but one Alayah Heath does, and apparently, she can be pretty persuasive when she wants to be.”
Derek smiled as he stared out the window, a warm feeling creeping up from his cold toes. “Alayah put him up to this?”
“You didn’t hear that from me. Everything equal, if you didn’t kill Hugo Victor, then you’d better watch your step. Those guys who used your face as a punching bag aren’t talking, so we don’t know who hired them. If Cal tells you to do something, you do it without asking questions. Understood?”
“If it keeps me out of a jail cell and leads us to Hugo’s real killer, I’ll do anything he says.”
Derek was never happier to see the city’s lights on the horizon. He might not know Cal, but he was a fan for life thanks to Alayah. The thought of the feisty woman who drove a giant SUV while strapped into a booster seat made him smile. He was probably her fan for life, too.