Page 26 of Set In Stone

krystina

“Alex?”I questioned. “What’swrong?”

The seriousness of his tone set me on high alert. I carefully took him in as he sat down across from me and ran his hands through his hair. Stress lines marred his perfect face and his jaw had that telltale nervous tick. He was obviously angry, but there was more. His coloring was off, ashen almost. Never before had I seen him wound so tight, yet appear defeated at the same time. The strong man in front of me looked completely and utterlybroken.

“Do you remember everything I told you about mypast?”

“Of course, I do. Alex, tell me what’s happened. You look like you’ve just seen a ghost. Is everythingalright?”

“A reporter fromThe City Timesgot in to see Charlie last night. Charlie told him everything about Justine and me. About ourpast.”

I breathed a small sigh of relief. From the way he looked, I thought something catastrophic had happened. I often thought Alexander worried too much about his past being made public. His paranoia was something I could never quite wrap my headaround.

“It will be okay. Like I said before, you worry about this too much. It was a long time ago. You were just a boy,Alex.”

He stared blankly at the wall behind me, appearing lost in a memory, before turning his gaze back to meetmine.

“When I threw that gun in the Harlem River, I thought I destroyed the only evidence that would lead to the truth,” he murmured. His words were quiet, but not quite a whisper. I was so confused. Alexander hadn’t talked about the day of his father’s death since that night onTheLucy.

What happened to suddenly bring this on? Why is he thinking aboutit?

“More than likely, this will be gossip for a short time and then people will move on.” I paused as I realized what he had just said. “Wait a minute. You said youthoughtyou destroyed it. Has it beenrecovered?”

“No, it hasn’t been found. It doesn’t need to be,” he said sadly and turned the computer monitor to me. “You need to read this,angel.”

I looked at the computer screen. It was an email forwarded from Hale. The original sender was from someone named Mac Owens. My eyes scrolled down the contents of the page. There was a title in bold font with the date and credentials listed belowit.

Rags to Riches: Was It Worth ThePrice?

February 24,2017

By MacOwens

In 2012, I set out to do a piece on the self-made billionaire, Alexander Stone. As with most media interactions, Mr. Stone was aloof, offering little to no insight to his background. I dug further, only to hit one dead end after another. It appeared as though Alexander Stone never existed before 2003. After years of digging and research, I was finally able to find the one man who could shine light on the truth: CharlieAndrews.

Below is a recount of Mac Owens’ exclusive interview with Charlie Andrews, one that will give insight to the mysterious billionaire, Alexander Stone. This interview, although not the most thorough or complete set of questions and answers, is the most extensive information available on Alexander Stone and his rise topower.

Note: The following interview contains graphic language and may not be suitable for youngeraudiences.

The interview went into details about Charlie’s history with Alexander. It gave a recap of my kidnapping and the subsequent car accident that shattered Charlie’s plans to get rich quick. Charlie was careful with his wording to the reporter, never once admitting guilt. Rather, he blamed Trevor for all ofit.

However, we knew his angle and his plan to say he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. The lawyers were prepared for it. My testimony alone was more than enough to convict him. Charlie mentioned a few times that Alexander grew up poor, but other than that, I had no idea why this interview had Alexander so rattled. None of what I was reading was newinformation.

“Alex, I’m notseeing–,”

“Keep reading,” he interjected. “You know most of this so far. You can skip ahead to this part of the interview if you wantto.”

He pointed to a spot on the computer screen. I blinked, startled by the determination written on his face. It was alarming and I almost didn’t want to keep reading. I wanted him to tell me what it said, but there was something about the severity of his posture that compelled me to do as he instructedinstead.

Turning back to the screen, I found the place where Alexander had marked and continuedon.

Mac Owens: The details of your trial have been kept remarkably quiet, Mr. Andrews. I understand that you may want the chance to plead your case to the public. Is there anything you can tell me that I don’t alreadyknow?

Charlie Andrews: I need to give you everything. Background is important. I thought you came to see me because you wanted a story. The wholestory.

Mac Owens: I do, Mr. Andrews, but everything you’ve said up to this point is hardly earth-shattering.

Charlie Andrews: Okay, Mr. Fucking-know-it-all. I guess you know all about my ex-wife murdering her father then, don’tyou?

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