Page 115 of Sinner

“I also learned some very scandalous things about you, Mr. Franklin, including your affairs with some pretty interesting women, including the wife of the police chief. Isn’t he a good buddy of yours? Now, you may think because of who and what you are that you can hide behind a cloak of protection, but there are still some good people on this earth who will take on a monster like you.”

The detective was suddenly standing right beside us. “Mr. Dorn Franklin, my name is Detective Morgan. I think we have a few things to discuss.”

“Oops,” I breathed, enjoying the horrified look on Dorn’s face. “I think that’s my cue to leave. I’m certain you’ll choose to do the right thing.” I took my time gathering the folder, handing it off to the detective before sauntering from the coffee shop without looking back.

Only when I was outside did I breathe a sigh of relief.

Whatever happened now was completely out of my hands.

Xander

“Have you seen the morning paper?” Zach asked as soon as he bounded into my office.

I glanced up from my computer screen, noticing he had a printed newspaper in his hands and a fucking huge grin on his face. I’d been at the office since before dawn, trying to put a dike in the dam. We were still losing sales fueled by the article Dorn had written. Stocks had dropped to a level we hadn’t seen in almost four years.

Meanwhile, the article had somehow boosted Sindom’s sales instead of hurting them. I’d checked with various contacts, even hassling Christopher in the middle of the night. He’d learned from his sources Sindom was about to make the announcement of the buyout as well as news about the game they were releasing in the upcoming days. The game Merrick had been working on was now in Sindom’s possession.

There were hints Sindom was updating their lineup as well. We had some decent competition for a change.

What disturbed me even more was being unable to discover just how alike Dark Nights would be to their new reality game. It had kept me in a state of rage.

And the need to put a bullet in Dorn’s head. I had a one-track mind when my feathers were ruffled.

“I’ve been a little busy,” I told him.

He smirked as he took long strides toward my desk, flopping the paper down. Whatever he wanted me to see was on the third page of theChicago Tribune. I glanced down, annoyed by the interruption. Just seeing Dorn Franklin’s byline was enough to boost my fury.

“What the fuck?” I hissed without reading the article.

Zach flopped down in my chair and suddenly, Wilder was standing in my doorway.

“Read the damn thing.”

I lifted my gaze to Wilder and shook my head. “We don’t have time for games.”

“Ha, ha,” Wilder chortled. “No pun intended, of course. Read it. I don’t who got to Dorn, but it would seem the asshole realized the error of his ways.”

“Fine.” I read the article. By the time I finished, I was laughing. “Are you kidding me? He retracted the entire story, even apologizing saying he’d been provided with bad information?” It was rare when any reporter ever retracted an article. The way he’d written it would banish him to being a hack writer, but who knew, he might be able to keep his job.

“I wonder how this happened,” Zach said as he grinned.

“Does it matter?” I asked, although every muscle in my body was tense. Another game of sorts was being played. The question was why?

And by whom?

I had a difficult time keeping an evil grin off my face.

“Perhaps Sam Carter challenged Dorn,” Wilder suggested.

“I doubt it. Sam’s a nice guy and likely scrambling to make this new release and the acquisition work.” Several other discoveries had been made regarding an investigation into Joel’s past. Why the FBI was bothering wasn’t my concern. At least we hadn’t been placed in any crosshairs.

“Then what and whom?” Zach asked.

My grin remained, my thoughts drifting to Christopher all over again. Maybe he was doing the heavy lifting with whoever he was working with. I’d find out on my own. “Let’s just celebrate our good fortune and pay close attention to Sindom and how our stock is doing.” I closed the lid on my laptop and stood, gathering my keys and shoving my phone into my jacket pocket.

“I recommend we shift the final contest at least a week,” Wilder stated.

I thought about what he was saying. “I think we’re all on the same page. We do need to find the leak. I just don’t want it shut down permanently.”

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