Chapter 16 - EDDIE'S CONFESSION|
Audrey stared at the message.
Eddie had been Ronin's security chief for fourteen years. He had been present at their wedding, at the birth of their first niece, and at every important family event. He had driven Audrey to hospital appointments and once spent an entire night outside her father's room because Ronin had been out of town.
She had trusted him.
Now he was admitting that he had helped humiliate her.
Miriam took the phone.
“Don't answer.”
Audrey looked at her.
“He may know where the blue folder is.”
“He may also be trying to lure you somewhere.”
They arranged a meeting at a public restaurant with investigators nearby.
Eddie arrived alone.
He looked exhausted.
“Why did you do it?” Audrey asked.
He sat across from her.
“Ronin told me to.”
“Why?”
“He wanted Celeste at the head table.”
“That's not an explanation.”
Eddie rubbed his forehead.
“He wanted the donors to believe they were together. He thought Peter would become careless if he believed Celeste had replaced you.”
Audrey stared at him.
“And the place card?”
“I removed yours.”
“You knew I would see it.”
“Yes.”
“You knew I was eight months pregnant.”
Eddie lowered his head.
“Yes.”
Audrey felt anger rise, but beneath it was something more painful.
“You let me walk into that room believing my husband had chosen another woman.”
“I thought it would be temporary.”
“Everyone thinks the cruelty they inflict is temporary.”
Eddie did not defend himself.
He opened a small folder.
“This is the blue folder.”
Inside were letters, bank records, and a handwritten statement from Isabelle.
Eddie explained that he had found the documents years earlier while clearing Ronin's office. He had kept them hidden because they implicated people in the family and because he feared that releasing them would lead to violence.
“Why give them to me now?” Audrey asked.
“Because I saw what happened at the gala. I watched you leave, and I realized I had become part of the thing I was supposed to protect you from.”
“Who gave you the order?”
“Ronin.”
Audrey looked at him.
“Did he know about the money?”
“Yes.”
“Did he know about the threat to the baby?”
“No. I don't think so.”
“Did he know Celeste was involved?”
“He suspected.”
Audrey closed the folder.
“Then why did he keep her close?”
“To get the ledger.”
“And why didn't he tell me?”
Eddie's silence answered.
Audrey stood.
“I'm finished being the last person to know what happens in my own life.”
Eddie looked up.
“There's one more thing.”
“What?”
“Victor has been moving people out of Miami. Peter's arrest didn't stop the operation. Douglas is still free, and he has a private plane booked for tonight.”
“Where is he going?”
“Colombia.”
Miriam called the investigators.
They confirmed the flight plan. Douglas was scheduled to leave from a private airfield outside the city.
Audrey looked at Eddie.
“Will you testify?”
“Yes.”
“Against Ronin too?”
He hesitated.
Then nodded.
“Yes.”
The investigators moved quickly. They located Douglas at the airfield, but he was not alone. Victor was with him, and several armed men stood near the hangar.
When officers approached, Douglas ran.
He reached the aircraft stairs before an agent caught him.
Victor pulled a weapon.
A shot rang out.
The officers returned fire.
When the smoke cleared, Victor was on the ground, and Douglas was in handcuffs.
The blue folder was secured.
But as the investigators searched Douglas's briefcase, they found a sealed document addressed to Audrey.
It contained a medical authorization form.
May you like
Her name was on it.
And the signature approved a procedure she had never agreed to.
