Page 108 of Devil's Riches

“You’re bluffing,” Edward said, eyes narrowing. “There’s no live stream. That’s just a random video.”

Nate took a couple of steps forward, still holding the phone out. “It’s definitely live, Edward. See?” he said, cocking his head. He briefly glanced at the screen himself. “Over five hundred people are watching this right now, and judging by the comments, at least three of them have contacted the police. We both know they can’t ignore this. Not when it’s happening right in front of everyone.”

Edward’s mouth opened and closed a few times. Then he cleared his throat. “What you’re doing is illegal,” he said stiffly. “This island falls under Washington state law, and that includes two-party consent to recordings. Everything you’re filming is inadmissible.”

“If a recorded conversation conveys threats of bodily harm, it becomes admissible, even without two-party consent. You’d know that if you ever took a freshman law class,” Nate said, lifting a brow. “Everyone just heard you threaten to kill me, and they heard you talking about operating on Alexis without her consent, too.”

Edward swallowed hard. “I… but…”

He didn’t seem capable of forming a sentence beyond that.

Nate took another step closer. “You can still shoot me if you really want to,” he said calmly, lifting the phone to aim the camera at Edward again. “But there’s no point. In five minutes, this place is gonna be crawling with cops. Give it a day and everyone in the world will know what you’ve done. They’ll know you tried to kill your own granddaughter to take her liver for your sick wife. They’ll know you were partially responsible for the original Butcher killings, too, along with the current ones, and they’ll know you set up an innocent man—Peter Covington—and made him take the fall. They’ll also know you were responsible for at least two thousand other murders over the last several decades, and they’ll know all about the organ trafficking scheme your family started. And finally, they’ll know the names of every single other Avalon family who was involved in it. Montgomery, Rosewell, Chabert, Redstone, Holland, Ellesmere, Van Zandt, Goulding, Perrier, Marin, Adamson… and, of course, my own family. The Lockwoods.”

Edward stared at Nate for a long moment. Then a tiny smirk tugged at his thin lips, and the defeated look in his eyes faded. “You think you’ve won,” he said in a low voice. “But you haven’t. Not by a long shot.”

“Why’s that?” Nate asked, forehead wrinkling in a disbelieving expression.

“You might have me, and you might have Selina,” Edward said, nodding toward the unconscious Dr. Redstone. “But in regard to your other accusations—you don’t have a shred of evidence. If you did, the world would already know all about it. So, as soon as this little film of yours goes viral, those families you mentioned will sue you for slander, and then they’ll spend the rest of their lives making your life a living hell.”

Nate smiled thinly. “I don’t think so. Nice try, though.”

Edward’s upper lip curled into a snarl. “Tell me,” he said. “What unshakeable proof do you think you have?”

“I have Greg. My uncle.”

“What the hell are you talking about? Gregory Lockwood is dead.”

“He’s not. My mother helped him fake his death,” Nate said. “He’s been hiding for the last ten years, and now he’s willing to testify against the rest of your organization in return for some sort of plea agreement when all of this goes to trial. My mother will do the same. They’ll be able to name names. Give details on the operation. Tell the feds where to look for any remains.”

Edward’s face paled slightly. “You’re lying,” he said. His hands were trembling around the barrel of the gun now.

“I’m not.” Nate clicked something on his phone screen and held it out again. “I have a photo,” he said. “Look. It’s Greg. His hair is grayer now, but it’s him. You can’t deny it.”

Edward stared at the photo, thunderstruck. “But… I... that isn’t possible,” he stuttered. “I can’t…”

While he was stunned into immobility, I took the opportunity to muster up my remaining strength and fly into action. I ripped the IV line out of my left arm with a pained grimace. Then I got off the bed and punched Edward right in the groin.

He grunted with agony and keeled over. As he did so, he accidentally fired the gun in a slanted shot that went right into the ceiling. The gun flew out of his hands after that, and he collapsed to the floor with a groan as plaster rained down on his head.

Somewhere in the distance, an alarm began to sound.

I saw Nate mouth two words at me as he grabbed the gun. Good girl.

I grabbed the long plastic IV line and used it to tie Edward’s wrists behind his back as he moaned on the floor. As I did that, Nate aimed the gun at him. “It’s over, Edward,” he said. “Don’t bother trying any bullshit. After what you did to Alexis, I won’t hesitate to shoot you right in the fucking face.”

My grandfather frantically shook his head. “Wait! Please! I… I can help.”

“Help?” Nate raised a scornful brow.

“I have records of everything. It’s all in my study at home. In the safe. Everyone who was ever involved in the operation is mentioned in there. Everyone who purchased organs, too,” Edward babbled. “You… you don’t understand. I was forced into it. The other families… they made me let them use my hospital. They said they’d kill me if I refused, and they did the same to my father!”

“We both know that isn’t true,” I said, nostrils flaring as I glared at him. “Your family were the ringleaders.”

“Thanks for the information about the records, though,” Nate added. “I’m sure that’ll make the FBI’s job a lot easier.”

Edward slumped with defeat on the floor, spluttering and groaning. I ignored the pitiful sounds and stepped over to Nate, eyes wide with wonder. “How did you get Greg and Annalise to talk?”

“Hold on. Let me turn off the stream.” He turned his phone off and slipped it back into his pocket. Then he grinned. “I didn’t get Greg to talk.”

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