Maxwell kept twitching his eyes at Franklin like he was sending a Morse code signal.
Franklin finally spoke up, stiff as a broomstick. ‘Yes... it was just business talk. Regular discussion. Nothing else. Mr Maxwell was asking about our compliance structure. He said he was impressed. Wanted to examine it more closely...’
Preston jumped in. ‘Mira probably misunderstood. She doesn’t work at the company. She doesn’t understand the industry lingo.’
Ashton turned to .
I lifted my phone. ‘I recorded everything. The entire conversation. I don’t understand industry lingo? Fine, we’ll get soone who does understand. Maybe an in-house lawyer from Ethics & Compliance.’
Maxwell refused to admit defeat. ‘Audio can be doctored. Everyone knows that.’
I stared at him. ‘Let’s play it now. We’ll see how doctored it sounds.’
‘Wait!’ Maxwell tried to stand up, failed, slumped back. ‘Mr Laurent, sir, I’ve worked for the company for more than a decade. You’ve got to believe ! She—Mrs Laurent, your wife, she’s not a businesswoman. Perhaps there’s so slight misunderstanding earlier. I apologise for my behaviour if it offended her. But I swear I didn’t ask for bribes. She’s twisting my words—’
‘Jesus, you’re unbelievable.’ I lifted my thumb to hit play. ‘Let’s hear your own words.’
Ashton sidestepped Maxwell’s bulk and ca up to . ‘That’s not necessary. I believe you.’
‘Mr Laurent!’
Ashton cut him off. ‘You’re done. She doesn’t need to play it. If you think I’m just taking her word for it, we’ll send the file straight to Digital Forensics.’
Dominic Everett stepped in right on cue.
‘Call the police, Dom,’ Ashton said. ‘Gary Maxwell is dismissed from Laurent Systems & Solutions, effective imdiately. LGH is pressing criminal charges against him for accepting bribes, fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, you know the drill. Mira’s got the recording. Give it all to the police.’
Dominic nodded.
He stepped out to make a call and returned with two n, who hauled Maxwell to his feet and dragged him out.
‘Now, just the family left.’ I turned to Franklin and Preston. ‘So. You set up. Is Miss Davis actually on her way here, or was that bullshit too?’
I hadn’t believed it from the start.
The voice ssage had sounded too convenient.
Still, it had been her voice. Just like I’d rembered. Just enough to make second-guess myself.
Maybe Caroline had bumped into her. Maybe they were all in on it.
But it was hard to believe Miss Davis would willingly collude with Caroline and Franklin.
‘Where’s Caroline?’ I demanded.
I’d long since stopped calling her Mum; she’d forfeited that right a long ti ago.
Franklin blinked himself back to the present. The shock on his face hadn’t worn off, though.
He kept looking at Ashton as if he still couldn’t believe he was really here.
‘She’s, um...’
‘Don’t say she’s on her way here.’ I rapped on the table. ‘That lie’s getting old fast. And Miss Davis, call her. Ask her what’s going on.’
‘She’s um...’ Franklin licked his lips. ‘Miss Davis was here for a conference. She was supposed to leave in two days. But, um, apparently, sothing ca up. She had to leave early—’
‘Bullshit. She sent the invitation at six-thirty. I got here at eight. That’s barely ninety minutes. She vanished from the city in that ti without a word? Try again. And don’t tell you don’t have her number.’
He flushed dark pink.
Preston stole a glance at Ashton, whose silence seed to embolden him. ‘She said she had to go. What were we supposed to do? Cuff her to the bloody table?’
‘So, that voice ssage was fake.’ I reached for my phone. ‘I’m calling the police.’
‘Wait—don’t!’ He would have lunged for my phone if there hadn’t been a table between us. ‘So what if it was fake? What’s the big deal? Why must you drag the cops into everything?’
‘Why are you so afraid of the cops if you’ve got nothing to hide?’ I shot back.
His eyes darted away.
Ashton looked up from his phone. ‘The police are on their way.’
I looked at him. ‘You called them?’
‘Dom did. To arrest Maxwell. But they might as well take a look into this case.’ He reached for my hand. ‘Let’s go.’
‘No—wait!’ Preston leapt to block the doorway. ‘We were just ssing around, alright? It was just a joke.’
I crossed my arms. ‘What joke?’
He hesitated, blinked twice, then gave up. ‘The voice ssage. It was AI. Aunt Caroline saw a clip of Miss Davis online, ran it through so app. Synthesised the audio. Made it sound like a personal ssage.’
I looked at my so-called father. Wanted to ask what part he played in this. Was it his idea? Or did he just go along with whatever Caroline did, as usual?
But I said nothing.
There was no point.
Ashton gave my shoulder a gentle squeeze.
‘I’m fine,’ I muttered.
He turned his head towards the door.
‘Sir, the police are here,’ Dominic said. ‘Gary Maxwell has been taken into custody.’
I had long since stopped marvelling at how scarily fast Ashton’s people moved.
‘Good. Ask them to step in. Franklin and Preston Vance are involved in conspiracy to commit a cri, harassnt, cyberstalking, false pretences. Don’t forget to add Caroline Vance’s na to the list.’
Preston shouted, ‘We didn’t do anything! It was a joke!’
Didn’t matter how loud he yelled.
Dominic ca through the door with two officers behind him.
Preston and Franklin were dragged out like bin bags on collection day.
Once the door shut, the silence hit hard.
My shoulders dropped.
First ti I’d taken a full breath since walking into 108.
I smiled at Ashton. ‘Good thing you were already at The Corner Table.’
He didn’t smile back.
His expression had turned sharp, worse than when he’d walked in.
‘What is it?’
His tone was flat. ‘What if I hadn’t been?’
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