Page 45 of A Man of Prestige

The atmosphere in the room is heavy. Sebastian is sitting in an old recliner with Alexis in his lap. Her hand strokes the back of his neck as she looks at him with worry in her eyes. Vivienne is scurrying around the kitchen making coffee. Conner’s staring out the window toward the Washington Monument.

“I have the shipping records,” Conner says without turning around. “Not that it matters now. My father was approached by Jared, years ago. For his discretion, he was paid triple his normal fees. And apparently, given free product samples. I think that’s how the president got involved as well as your fathers. They wanted to take what they wanted, whenever they wanted, and that drug let them do it, except when the drug didn’t work, and we all know what happened then.” Conner’s face is a mixture of disgust and rage.

“How did you get the files?” I ask as I look back at Vivienne who’s watching Conner from the kitchen.

“Bryce…he came through with some emails for us,” Conner replies as he slowly turns to us. Conner looks at me and I know immediately that there’s more.

“What else?” I question as I step toward him, Ella’s hand still firmly in my grasp.

“We know where Tina is,” he adds.

I swallow. “Is she…” I can’t finish the statement because part of me isn’t sure I want to know.

“She’s alive,” Sebastian answers. “She lives in Vermont.” He pauses. “I have her phone number.”

We all look at each other.

Vivienne sets the old phone from the side table in the living room on the coffee table in the middle of the room. “Do you boys want privacy for this call?”

“No,” Sebastian replies as Alexis moves to sit on the arm of the chair. “You are all part of this story now. Whatever she has to say, you should hear it, too.”

Conner pulls up a chair and sits in front of the coffee table, his elbows resting on his thighs as he stares at the phone. It feels full circle. Here we are nearly a decade after that night, and we’re going to bring all those memories back to the surface. A part of me feels guilty about calling Tina. What if she doesn’t want to remember? What if she doesn’t even want to speak to us?

“She may not—”

“I know,” Sebastian says. “But we need to at least ask. I don’t want to cause her more pain, but we need to know. We need closure on this.”

He picks up the phone and holds out his hand to Conner, who passes him his burner phone with a phone number on the screen. He dials it and puts the phone on speaker.

The phone rings once, twice, three times. Sebastian goes to hang up when a woman answers.

“Hello?”

We all look at each other. It’s her.

“Tina?” Sebastian asks.

“This is she.”

He clears his throat. “My name is Sebastian North…I—”

“I know who you are,” she answers, her voice a whisper.

“I’m sorry to bother you, but I’m here with Conner Sterling and Aiden Thomas. We had a few questions for you.”

“Go on,” she replies after a few seconds.

“That night…in the woods…you were at a frat party beforehand, yes?”

“I was.”

“Which frat was it? Do you remember?”

“TOD.”

“Did you leave with someone?” Conner asks.

She sighs. “It was a really long time ago. I never got a chance to thank you all. I didn’t even know your names. Years later, I saw you on television, Congressman North, and I recognized you.”

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