Chương 14
The story widened again.
Anna returned to her apartment after police cleared it.
Leah came home too.
They replaced the cheap door chain even though it would not stop anyone serious.
It made Leah feel better.
The cat screamed for ten minutes because the furniture had moved.
Anna sat on the kitchen floor and let him climb into her lap.
Her phone buzzed.
Vincent.
She ignored it.
It buzzed again.
She ignored that too.
Leah looked at her.
“Progress.”
“What?”
“You ignored a call.”
Anna stared at the phone.
It felt strange.
Dangerous, almost.
Then Leah said, “You should probably check if he’s dying.”
Anna threw a dish towel at her.
Vincent called a third time.
She answered.
“This better be important.”
“Anthony is missing.”
Anna stood so quickly the cat fled.
“What do you mean missing?”
“He didn’t appear for a meeting. His phone is off. His wife hasn’t heard from him.”
“Did he run?”
“Maybe.”
“Are police looking?”
“Yes.”
“Does Torres know?”
“She’s with me.”
Anna heard Torres in the background.
“Tell her to stop making everything sound like a hostage situation,” the detective said.
Anna almost laughed from relief.
“Why are you calling me?”
Vincent hesitated.
“I don’t know.”
That answer frightened her more than any specific reason.
“Where are you?”
“My office.”
“Are you safe?”
“Yes.”
“Are you sure?”
“No.”
Anna closed her eyes.
“Don’t go anywhere alone.”
Vincent gave a quiet sound.
“That’s my line.”
“Now it’s mine.”
Anthony was found twelve hours later in a motel outside Newark.
Alive.
Drunk.
Terrified.
And ready to talk.
He had not attempted to kill Vincent.
At least not directly.
He had done something worse than cheating and less simple than murder.
Six months earlier, Anthony had approached a private investment group about forcing a sale of one of Vincent’s companies.
He needed the sale because his personal guarantees were collapsing.
Elise knew.
She disagreed with Vincent’s refusal to sell but had not authorized Anthony’s tactics.
Anthony gave the investors internal schedules, financial pressure points and information about Vincent’s decision-making habits.
He believed they would use it to pressure Vincent through lenders and board members.
The investment group employed a fixer named Martin Vale.
Vale had a history of corporate intelligence work, private security and fraud investigations.
No serious convictions.
Enough civil complaints to suggest flexibility.
Anthony met Vale four times.
In one meeting, he complained that Vincent was “the only thing standing between everybody and the deal.”
Anthony insisted it was frustration.
Vale apparently interpreted it as opportunity.
Or pretended to.
The betting operation that held Craig’s debt traced through intermediaries to men who had done collection work for Vale.
The corporate guest Wi-Fi access came from a day Vale attended a vendor meeting at Vincent’s headquarters.
For the first time, separate pieces began pointing toward someone outside the family.
But Vale had disappeared.
His apartment was empty.
His accounts were moving.
And nobody had proof he had touched the medication.
Vincent wanted Anthony arrested.
Torres told him sharing confidential business information was not automatically attempted murder.
Vincent wanted to fire Elise.
His attorney advised waiting until the investigation clarified whether she had knowingly participated in coercive tactics.
Vincent wanted something simple.
The law kept giving him categories.
Anna understood.
She visited Anthony with Torres present two days later.
Not because police needed her.
Because Anthony asked.
He looked nothing like Vincent up close.
Softer body.
Restless hands.
A face that moved too quickly through emotions.
He sat in an interview room rubbing his thumb over a pale line where a wedding ring had once been.
“You’re the waitress,” he said.
Anna sat across from him.
“Anna.”
“I know.”
“Then why call me that?”
Anthony looked down.
“Habit.”
“Bad one.”
He nodded.
Anna waited.
Anthony said, “Vincent talks about you.”
“What does he say?”
“That you’re difficult.”
“That sounds right.”
“And that you notice things.”
“Apparently.”
Anthony gave a broken smile.
Then it vanished.
“I didn’t want him dead.”
Anna said nothing.
“I wanted him scared.”
There it was.
Not innocence.
A different guilt.
Anthony continued.
“I wanted him to think control could slip. That lenders could turn. That people could move around him without permission. I wanted him to need the sale.”
“And you hired Vale.”
“I introduced him to the fund.”
“You gave him schedules.”
“Yes.”
“You gave him information about security.”
“Yes.”
“You created the opening.”
Anthony’s eyes filled but he did not cry.
“I didn’t say poison him.”
“No.”
“I didn’t.”
“I heard you.”
“You don’t believe me.”
“I believe you didn’t have to say the exact words to create danger.”
He looked at her.
The sentence hurt him.
Anna did not enjoy that.
Anthony stared at the table.
“My father used to make us race.”
“What?”
“When we were kids. Stupid things. Swimming to the dock. Running up the hill. Who could clean fish faster.”
“You hated fishing.”
Anthony laughed weakly.
“Vincent tell you?”
“Yes.”
“He cheated.”
“Vincent?”
“At everything.”
Anna doubted that.
Anthony saw it.
“Not like you think. He’d figure out which rules Dad actually cared about and ignore the rest. I tried to follow all of them.”
His smile collapsed.
“Then Dad gave him everything anyway.”
“Not everything.”
“The part that counted.”
Anna leaned back.
“You wanted your father to pick you.”
Anthony’s face hardened.
“Don’t make this pathetic.”
“It already is.”
He looked up sharply.
Anna regretted the cruelty as soon as she said it.
She did not take it back.
Anthony said, “You think Vincent’s better than me?”
“I think he was holding a poisoned spoon.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“No.”
She looked at him.
“I think you wanted to hurt him without having to admit you wanted to hurt him. So you gave dangerous people tools and called it business pressure.”
Anthony’s jaw worked.
“You don’t know anything about our family.”
“No.”
“Then stop pretending you do.”
“Fair.”
That answer angered him more.
He stood.
Torres opened the door immediately.
May you like
Anthony sat again.
His hands shook.
