Chapter 38
38
T he CEO cocked his head and gave a good impression of being confused.
“I’m sorry; did you say I killed him?” he asked.
Out of the corner of her eye, Lina noticed all three siblings shift. They looked skeptical, but Lina found it interesting that none of them jumped to his defense.
“I said you had him killed. Not that you did it yourself,” Lina replied. “May I ask the three of you about your father?” she said, turning to the siblings. Beside her, Jackson fought a grin at her dismissal of Craig.
“No, wait,” Craig interrupted. “You can’t accuse me of murder, then move on!”
Lina let her gaze drift back to him. “We’re not moving on, Mr. Sonnenberg. We’re going back to the beginning so that everyone here understands what happened.”
“Nothing happened,” he barked.
“You said your father died four years ago. I’m sorry for your loss,” Lina said, directing the comment to Arthur Caine’s children. They eyed her with suspicion, but Christopher managed a nod. “Can you tell me a little bit about him?”
The siblings shared a look. “Like what?” Andrea asked.
“Did he grow up here? How’d he meet your mom? Those sorts of things,” she coaxed.
Again, they shared a look, questions heavy in their eyes.
“I’m not sure we should do this without lawyers,” Jennifer said, the most cautious of the three. It probably made her an excellent scientist.
“We’re not being accused of anything,” Christopher pointed out. “Wait, are we?” he asked. His eyes turned flinty at the question, giving Lina a good glimpse into his professional persona. Amiable enough until pushed.
“You are not,” Lina confirmed. Both Agent Erickson and Callie shifted at her certainty, but she ignored them. Under the table, Jackson’s leg brushed against hers in a quiet show of solidarity. She’d always worked alone when in the field. She never planned to return, but having his steady presence at her side—at her back—was comforting.
“Our father was born here in North Carolina, but his father came over from Ireland,” Andrea started. Christopher and Jennifer looked down but didn’t stop their sister. “He went to school in state all the way through grad school. He met Mom while doing his PhD—they worked in the same lab.”
“Our mother was from England, and she was visiting as part of her postdoc program. Our father always said it was love at first sight,” Jennifer took up the narrative.
“Mom always corrected him that it was lust at first sight,” Christopher said, making his sisters smile. “She said love doesn’t happen in the blink of an eye.”
“Whatever it was,” Jennifer continued, “they founded this company together. Lived together, worked together, raised the three of us together. I don’t want to say they were one of those fairy-tale couples…”
“But they kind of were,” Andrea said; her siblings nodded.
“Everyone knows what an epic love story Arthur and Natalie had. What the hell does this have to do with Dr. Kato’s death? Or why you think I’m involved?” Craig demanded.
The muscles in Jackson’s arms twitched at the animosity in Craig’s voice, but Lina welcomed it. She was getting to him. “We’ll get there in a minute, Mr. Sonnenberg. I understand your mom passed away twelve years ago?” she asked, turning back to the siblings. Andrea looked away and blinked. Jennifer scratched her forefinger across the wood table in tiny movements.
“She did,” Christopher answered on an exhale. “Of cancer.”
“That must have been hard on your dad. On all of you,” she said.
Christopher cocked his head. “It was. Devastating, actually. We knew it was coming. We had six months’ warning. We’re grateful she didn’t suffer too long, but the time went too quickly.”
“I’m sure it did,” Lina said. “I’ll say it, again, I’m sorry for your loss.” She paused. “And a second loss, four years ago. Your dad was in an accident, wasn’t he?”
Christopher snorted. Both his sisters shot him worried glances. “Don’t, Chris,” Jennifer said.
“Don’t what?” Lina said.
Andrea sighed. “He doesn’t think Dad’s accident was an accident. We’ve been over this time and again, though. He had a drink at the club, then took a sleeping pill. He probably didn’t realize how quickly the combination affected him, because he was usually at home when he took those pills.”
“Exactly,” Christopher said. “Why would he have his sleeping pills with him at the club? And why would he take one at seven thirty at night when he was fifteen minutes from home? It doesn’t make sense.”
Jennifer started to say something, then stopped and shook her head.
“Jennifer?” Lina prompted.
She shook her head again. “It is weird. But as we said earlier, the company was going through lean times. Maybe he felt more stressed than usual. Maybe he wanted to be sure he’d fall straight to sleep when he arrived home rather than take a pill when he got there and wait for it to take effect. We’ll never know the truth, but we can’t argue with the tox report or the witness accounts from the club. Craig even walked him to his car,” she added.
Lina swung her gaze to him. “Did you?”
He narrowed his eyes. “In full view of everyone else, including the club CCTV cameras.”
She held his gaze to the count of ten. Turning back to the siblings, she asked, “Did you read the tox report?” All three hesitated, then each shook their head.
“The police investigated. The detective involved kept us informed,” Jennifer said.
Lina was about to change their lives, and she didn’t take that reality lightly. Christopher might feel vindicated, but she’d open a whole new can of worms. Jackson’s toe nudged hers.
“I don’t think you’re wrong, Mr. Caine,” she said.
His sisters both jerked. “Call me Christopher,” he said, straightening in his chair.
“The bottle found in your dad’s car had fifteen pills left of the twenty-five in the prescription,” Lina said. Christopher frowned. “The prescription was six months old, which indicates he rarely took them.”
“He didn’t. They were a last resort, not a go-to. The doctors gave them to him after our mom died,” Andrea said, her brow furrowing.
“Based on the tox report, he had the equivalent of nearly three pills in his system,” Lina said.
A wave of denials filled the room, each of the Caine children insisting their father would never, under any circumstance, take more than one pill.
“I suppose you’re going to blame Arthur’s death on me, too,” Craig said, not quite a sneer but damn close.
“Actually, I am,” Lina said. Three chairs scraped as the siblings shifted to stare at the man who’d been a part of their lives for nearly a decade and a half.
“You’ve got to fucking be kidding me,” he said, slamming his hand on the table. “You’re not going to let this continue,” he said, glaring at the company lawyer.
Ashley darted a look at Lina, then let it drift to the two FBI agents. She pushed her chair back six inches. “I’ll remind you that I am a lawyer for the company, not your personal lawyer, Craig,” she said. “If you feel you need your own representation, I suggest you find one. Perhaps one with criminal experience,” she added.
“Ms…” Christopher said, drawing Lina’s attention again.
“Kato,” she replied, no longer feeling the need to hide her connection to the topic in discussion.
He blinked. “As in Dr. Kato?” She nodded. “Your father?” She nodded again. His eyes lingered, then softened. “I’m sorry for your loss.”
“Thank you,” she said. The simple two words easier to say than the complicated truth she was coming to understand about her relationship—and lack thereof—with her father.
“What do you think happened to our dad?” Jennifer asked, casting a wary look at Craig.
“I’d recommend you stay, Mr. Sonnenberg,” Lina said. “You are, of course, entitled to a lawyer, but if you insist on having one, you will be removed from the room and you will lose an opportunity to hear our theories.” They had more than theories, but she wasn’t ready to reveal those. Not yet.
His jaw ticked, and he glared at her. After a beat, he threw up a hand and sat back in his chair. “Please, by all means, continue.”
She inclined her head and turned back to the Caine children. “Did Mr. Sonnenberg have access to your home?”
Christopher hesitated. “Yes. He’s worked at Navios a long time and was very senior even before becoming CEO. Our dad also went to school with his mom.”
Lina nodded. She’d address that point in a bit. “As you’ve said, your father rarely used the pills, and Mr. Sonnenberg knew that if he took the bottle, it wouldn’t be missed. By his own admission—corroborated by witnesses and CCTV—he was at the club that night.”
“All of which was investigated,” Craig snapped.
Ignoring him, Lina continued. “I believe he dissolved three of those pills in a small amount of water, which he then added to your father’s scotch. After your dad finished his drink, Mr. Sonnenberg walked him to his car, giving him the opportunity to slip the pill bottle back into your dad’s work bag, where it was later found.”
“The only way to prove something like that is if someone saw me or if my fingerprints were on the bottle,” Craig said.
“Interestingly, there were no fingerprints at all on the bottle.” She let that sink in. “Kind of weird that if Arthur Caine took a pill before going home, that his own fingerprints weren’t on the bottle. And he died in June. Not exactly winter glove weather.”
“Still sounds like conjecture,” Craig shot back.
“Why didn’t we know this?” Jennifer said.
“And how did you find out?” Andrea asked her.
“Friends in the right places,” she said. She’d explain it to the siblings later once they sorted everything with Sonnenberg. Leo—HICC—was a good connection to have. She could have used them a time or two while at the agency. As it was, she was glad they could help bring the Caine siblings some closure.
“Why would I do something like that?” Craig demanded. “It’s ridiculous. Arthur made Navios what it is. His death threw the company into disarray.”
“But you emerged on top,” Lina pointed out.
“I could have gone and been CEO of any number of companies,” he said, narrowing his eyes. “Recruiters were constantly reaching out to me back then. But I never called them back. I stayed at Navios because I believe in the company. And Arthur was an excellent leader.”
“He cared about his people as much as he cared about the products Navios produces, didn’t he?” she asked.
“Damn straight he did,” Craig said.
“Which is why he wanted to track down everyone who worked on Project 62 and warn them that the combination of materials they’d been using in their experiments predisposed them to disseminated intravascular coagulation,” Lina said. Craig stilled. “And you couldn’t have that, could you? It would damage the company too much. Maybe ruin it altogether.”
“I don’t understand,” Andrea said. “What are you saying?”
“She’s saying nothing. Are you going to let this continue?” Craig said, turning his glare on Callie and Agent Erickson.
“Yes,” Erickson replied.
“It’s nice not to be the lead every now and then,” Callie added, her lips twitching.
Craig stared at both agents. Abruptly, he shoved back from the table and rose. “You can do whatever you like, but I’m not staying.”
“Have a seat, Mr. Sonnenberg,” Callie said, all hint of humor gone.
“I’m calling my lawyer,” he shot back as he moved to the door.
“Erickson,” Callie said.
The tall agent rose. “You are, of course, welcome to call a lawyer, but we will be arresting you the second you walk out of this room. You can decide if that’s now or when we’re done here.”
“Arrest me? For what?” he demanded. “You have nothing but a wild imagination.”
“We will arrest you for the murder of Dr. Kato, financial fraud, collusion, conspiracy, and the murder of Arthur Caine. To start,” Erickson replied.
Sonnenberg didn’t so much as blink. Lina gave him credit; he was a good liar. Not as good as he thought, but better than the average bear.
Finally, he huffed and retook his seat. “This is a waste of my time. Of all our time. But please”—he gestured dramatically to her—“carry on. Again.”
“Do you have the device I gave you?” she asked Jackson. He nodded and handed her the small rectangular object from his packet.
Christopher, Andrea, and Jennifer watched her with interest. As did the lawyer. Craig had pulled out his phone, but Lina wasn’t worried. Leo and his team were monitoring his communications.
“I’m going to project things as we walk through this,” she said. Turning to the Caine children, she added, “I apologize in advance as this may be hard for you. Both what you hear about the past and what it will mean for your future. The future of Navios.”
The three siblings shared a look, then Jennifer met her gaze. “Whatever it is, we’ll deal with it. Together. The way our parents would have wanted us to.”