Page 105 of Bad Seed

“Holy shit,” he muttered, then jumped up and went to get his burner phone from an inner pocket in his coat and began scrolling through calls and messages. He didn’t have any new messages, but he did have four calls he’d made that were never answered or returned. He needed to lose this phone, and something told him he needed to disappear. He was standing in the middle of the room and staring out the window when the door opened behind him.

He turned, then frowned. “Dad, what are you…”

Wilhem stepped inside as four men walked in behind him, flashing their badges as two of them pulled Tip’s arms behind him and cuffed him, while Jay Howard flashed an arrest warrant.

“Tipton Wayne Crossley, a.k.a. Dale Wayne Berlin, I have a warrant for your arrest for fraud, human trafficking, arson, money laundering, theft of property, and with the possibility of further charges being added at a later date.”

Tip knew the Miranda warning, but he’d never had it directed at him before, and hearing it now was a death knell. He didn’t argue. He didn’t deny. He didn’t admit. It didn’t feel real until the handcuffs pinched his wrists.

“I want my lawyer,” he said.

Wilhem shook his head. “You don’t have oneanymore, and I won’t share mine with the man who stole from me. Conflict of interest, and all that.”

Tip couldn’t look his father in the eye. He couldn’t argue with the truth.

“Mr. Crossley, a team is en route to take possession of everything in this office and everything in your son’s office at your home. Anything not pertaining to your son’s crimes will be returned at a later date,” Jay said.

Wilhem nodded, watching as the agents put Tip’s coat over his shoulders and walked him out of the building. He followed until he reached Margaret’s desk, and then stopped.

Margaret was stunned, but when she saw the devastation on her boss’s face, in a moment of empathy, she reached for his hand.

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered.

Wilhem gave her fingers a quick squeeze. “So am I, Margaret. So am I.”

Chapter 17

On Saturday morning, Rusty Pope could hear the kids playing and the back door slamming as Cameron came back inside with Ghost. They’d been out on their morning run. She knew she would walk into chaos when she left the office, but she had news to share.

Cameron was getting fresh water for Ghost when she walked into the kitchen. He looked up, set the water bowl on the floor, and went to meet her.

“What?”

“Jay Howard just called. Tipton Crossley was the boss man after all. He’s been arrested. But that’s not the best part. When they were going through evidence they’d gathered from the family estate, they were also able to close out another case.” She put a hand in the middle of his chest. “Cameron…it was our case. Crossley was the man we couldn’t find when we busted that trafficking ring happening here. He would have been the man who would have sold Lili to the highest bidder. The big man pulling strings on all the puppets he was controlling across the nation. Interpol has been notified. They have enough information to shut downreception points across the globe.”

“My God,” he muttered. “And what are the odds that this would ever come full circle?”

Mikey was sitting on the floor, building another tower for Ellie to kick over, but he’d been listening.

“Not odds, Daddy. Poison. The snake got greedy and bit itself. It will die.”

They both turned and looked at him in disbelief.

“Why did you say that?” Cameron asked.

Mikey shrugged. “Heard it.”

“Right,” Cameron muttered, and looked back at his wife. “Every day, it’s something. Swear to God, we might have named our daughter for Aunt Ella, but her spirit is with our son.” Then he wrapped his arms around her. “This is what you get when you marry into this family.”

At that moment, the tower toppled before Ellie got a chance to kick it. She threw back her head and screamed. “No, Mikey! I do the kickin’!”

Rusty sighed. “And that’s what you get for marrying me.”

“And I’d do it again without blinking. Now, go tell Harley she’s off the hook. I finished the quarterly PCG reports last night. Money coming in. Dividends going out. And if you want, bring back some ribs and fixings from Emory’s Barbecue.”

“Deal,” she said, and went to change clothes.

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