Chapter 31
Ryan
My friends try to stop me but I am going to find answers tonight, whether they approve of my ways or not.
It’s past midnight as I reach Bolton’s house. Owen still has a set of keys to our dear uncle’s house; I knew where to find them. The lights to the study are switched on. I open the lock and walk inside. Bolton works late most nights. An honorable principal by day and a criminal by night.
Climbing the stairs, I make it to the study and push the door open. The man I loathe sits carefree at his huge desk, surrounded by his sham. He wears the cloak of a respectable man effortlessly.
“It’s late, Ryan,” he says, closing down his computer.
“I want answers. I figured since you always work late you wouldn’t mind.”
“Is this about Ishika?” he says casually. “Her father asked me questions about you and I had to tell him what I know. It’s not like the rest of the town doesn’t know about your infamous history.”
“This isn’t about Ishika. I found the USB that was hiding in your safe. It was with the photographs and my father’s watch.” His calm exterior begins to evaporate. He knows what I am disclosing and yet he denies everything.
“I’ve no idea what you’re talking about.”
I’m tired of beating around the bush. “I have proof that you were funneling money using my father’s restaurant. I found the contact list and the journal entries, transaction details. Did my father know about this?”
His tone changes. “Like I said, I’ve no fucking clue about any of this rubbish. There’s no proof. I was helping your father set up a business, to put food on the table so you and your brother could eat. Is this how you repay me? You ungrateful shit!”
I want him to suffer the pain and the humiliation that I had to endure. I want him to pay for what he did to my father’s reputation. But I have to think about what I risk to lose, so I silence my impulse to punch his stupid face and let my mind dominate my actions tonight.
“So you won’t have any problems if I hand the evidence over to the Federal agents.
Isn’t there a federal investigation going on that involves Nigel Lance?
You know, I didn’t think you could pull this off anyway.
You need brains to cover up close to twenty-five million dollars in numbered accounts.
A man with a tiny brain like yours cannot mastermind such a complicated plan.
This was Nigel’s idea right? You were just his sad accomplice. ”
The mask of composure that he wears slips. In the blink of an eye, he brings out a pistol and points it at me. I hear the click as he turns off the safety catch. His fingers curl around the trigger. It’s a small study and I am a few feet away from his desk. He has the perfect shot.
“Where’s the USB? Hand it over and no one gets hurt,” he warns, rising from his chair.
“Ryan, what are you doing here at this hour?” Wendy enters the office from the side door that leads to her bedroom.
She seems terrified as she registers the gun in Bolton’s hand.
Before she can retract her steps and escape, Bolton jumps up, grabbing Wendy fast, and pushing the muzzle of the gun to her head.
His arm chokeholds her. Wendy yelps and her eyes are frantic as she looks at me for help.
“Let’s finally finish this tonight. Take off your shirt so I can see you’re not wired. If you’re recording me, kill the recording, and place your phone on the table. Don’t do anything stupid or the bitch dies,” he warns.
“Don’t shoot.” I take off my shirt.
Bolton’s finger is on the trigger. “Place your phone on the table, Ryan, where I can see it.”
I do as I’m told. When he sees that I was recording him, he deletes my recording and then flings my phone to the wall. My phone shatters, breaking in pieces.
“You thought I would fall for that? You’re just like your father. Dumb and a good for nothing whack job.”
“Why did you kill my father?” I ask with no room for misinterpretation.
“Where’s the USB? Hand it over and I will let Wendy go.”
“What happened to my father that night?”
“You have some balls to enter my home in the middle of the night with these vile accusations. I can kill you right now. I’ll tell the cops that you entered my home and I fired the bullets in self-defense, killing my wife and her nephew. What if I say you two were lovers? Will Ishika cry?”
Grinding my jaw, I refuse to be sidetracked. “Someone was keeping trail of all your illegal activities. You must be afraid when they got to you. Was Nigel Lance blackmailing you?”
“Blackmailing me?” He laughs sadistically.
“I kept a record of every entry, every transaction, so if ever I got caught, I wouldn’t go down alone.
I would take every single person involved to doom with me.
It’s called leverage. So, no one dared to double-cross me.
I have to be careful while dealing with scumbags.
I knew what you took from me when you broke into my office.
But when you didn’t hand it over to the police, I didn’t understand why.
I had my men tracking your every move. When Owen decided to meet you secretly on that bridge, I suspected that he was holding on to the USB for you.
I couldn’t just sit and watch. That’s how the poor kid got hurt and broke his leg.
I kept tabs on you for months afterward, but when I reached a dead end again and again, I was convinced Owen and you knew nothing about the USB or what it hides.
You finally backtracked your steps and stopped snooping around because you began to fear for Owen’s life.
You did the right thing. I had my eyes on you all this time.
If you had done anything foolhardy there would’ve been another car crash.
And as much as I like Owen, this time, I would have made sure he didn’t survive it. ”
Blood roars in my ears, a mad rage begins to swirl inside me. I shift my feet to feel the harness of my pocketknife that hides in the ankle of my boot. I only plan on using my knife in self-defense.
“My father was your friend. You killed my father and took his watch as a memento. You are sick. Aunt Wendy is your wife. Let her go and we can talk man-to-man.”
He lifts his hand and rams the metal of the gun into Wendy’s skull. Wendy lets out a painful cry. Jake is outside Bolton’s house waiting for my signal. I warned him not to call the cops for twenty minutes. I need this asshole to confess.
“This fucking bitch, I tolerate her because of your mother. Do you want to know why I loathe you so much? Marcy was supposed to marry me. Your father showed up in town one day looking for work. I offered him friendship and helped him find a job. But he insulted my friendship when he stole the woman I intended to marry. Marcy became pregnant with you. Everything changed because of you. They weren’t in love.
It was a drunken one-night stand, a mistake.
Marcy said so herself. After that, Marcy wouldn’t agree to an abortion.
Karl couldn’t let the child be raised as a bastard.
Karl married the girl I loved while I watched.
I fuckin’ hate you, Ryan. You are the reason my life turned upside down.
You are the result of a pathetic mistake that ruined my life.
I married Wendy because she is Marcy’s sister so I could remain close to the woman I love.
But Karl had to pay for what he did. My planning took years.
I pretended to forgive Karl for his betrayal.
I convinced him that I was happy with Wendy.
Then I had to wait for a chance to strike. ”
“My parents were in love. Did you stop to think that maybe my mother didn’t really love you? Maybe she knew how evil you are on the inside and she ran away the minute she found an escape.”
“She didn’t run very far though. She kept coming back to me for advice and friendship or emotional support. She urged me to help Karl fulfill his lifelong dream of opening a restaurant. I let her believe that she was the reason I agreed to invest in that business.”
“You behaved like a confidant and then stabbed my father in the back. He found out about the money trails, didn’t he?”
Bolton smirks. “The restaurant was a perfect cover to facilitate the exchange.
I was cleaning old money for some very powerful businessmen.
For a cut. Everything went smoothly for years but then Karl checked the books one day and wanted to bring in his own accountant.
He somehow picked up some discrepancy. Next he found some falsified paperwork for a large transaction.
He got suspicious. We argued about it and he threatened me to clean up the mess I caused or he was going to tell everyone about his findings.
I had to monitor his actions, so I hired someone to track his every step.
The photographs of Karl that you found in my office were a result of that.
“I invited Karl for a chat. I convinced him to meet me on the terrace for a drink and give me a chance to explain about the money transfers. I tried to bribe him but he wouldn’t listen.
Then I fabricated a story about how I was innocent and was forced to launder money for the mob or they would kill Wendy and me.
Karl bought my lies. I entertained his idea of confessing to the police and asking for witness protection.
I told Karl to give me two days to organize my end of affairs.
I told him I wanted a chance to explain things to Wendy first and your father agreed.
I had shut off the surveillance cameras in the restaurant property and on the terrace before the meeting.