Page 45 of Liberating Mia
“And who did you think he was exactly?”
“I thought he was an honest, hardworking, if somewhat arrogant, man. He was always so charming. He rarely lost his temper. When he did though, it was most unpleasant. I guess that should have been a warning.”
“Did Mr. Hunt ever talk to you about his business?”
“No. All he told me was that he had an import-export business that shipped to a number of international destinations. When I asked what products he dealt with, he simply said African specialties. I still remember thinking that was a weird way of explaining it but assumed he meant local curios and such.”
“And Mason Hunt, how much do you know about him?”
“Other than the fact that he’s Dylan’s brother and that I accidentally discovered that he worked for Dylan, nothing. I don’t even know what he did for his brother, what position he held in the business.”
“Does the name Christoff Mueller mean anything to you?”
“Yes, he worked for Dylan. He appeared to be employed as a Man Friday if you will. He was chauffeur, secretary, valet, security all rolled into one.”
“I see.”
Back and forth the questions and answers continued.
“Talk me through the events that led up to you being rescued.”
Mia swallowed hard. She’d known it was coming and still she hadn’t been prepared for it.
“I received a call from our wedding planner with some bad news. I dreaded having to tell Dylan, knowing it would upset him. In the end, I decided it was best to just tell him and get it over with. His housekeeper, Sabine, told me he was in his office, so I went downstairs.” She paused, swallowing hard. Despite the weeks that had passed, the memories of that day still haunted her. “I knew better. Dylan didn’t like it when I came to his office. Now I understand why.”
“What do you mean?”
“I checked his office, but it was empty. Then I heard him shouting at someone. I couldn’t hear what he was saying, but it was clear he was angry. I followed his voice to the conference room. Um … may I have some water, please?”
“Certainly.” Desai got up and took a bottle of water out of the tiny refrigerator in the corner of the room.
“Thank you.” Mia gratefully accepted the water. Drinking deeply, she took a moment to compose herself. “I saw Dylan screaming at a man. At first, I couldn’t see who it was – they were sitting down. But suddenly, the man sprang to his feet, and I saw it was Dylan’s friend, Omari. Oh God …”
“It’s alright, take your time.”
Mia searched out Finn’s gaze across the room, drawing comfort from his presence. She saw him mouthYou’ve got this.Taking a deep breath, she squared her shoulders. She could only hope she made it through this without breaking down.
“He started punching Omari until he fell to the floor. It made no difference to Dylan that the man lay unconscious. He continued to assault him. And just when I thought it was all over, Dylan took a gun and shot Omari. Repeatedly.”
“What did you do next?”
“I ran into Dylan’s office. It was kind of a knee-jerk reaction. But once I was in there, the thought struck me that if I could find something – some kind of evidence, maybe I could use it to protect myself and my family. You know, threaten to expose him unless he left us be. Maybe not the smartest plan, but then I wasn’t thinking clearly at the time.”
“And did you? Find anything incriminating, that is?”
Mia’s entire body went ice cold. She grabbed her purse from where it hung over the chair.
“Er … Ms. Shore?”
“Just give me a second.”
Mia rummaged inside the big bag and pulled out a smaller zippered pouch. She upended the contents on the boardroom table, searching for a specific lipstick. Finding the one she wanted, she carefully picked at the base until finally it came away and a small flash drive fell out onto the table.
“Yes. Thank you, God.” Picking it up, she handed it to Desai. “I completely forgot I had that with everything that’s happened. I think you’ll find some valuable information on there. My late fiancé appears to have kept meticulous, detailed records of his business dealings.”
Carefully, he took the flash drive from her, as if she were passing him a grenade.
“Ms. Shore has handed me a Juggernaut 1 terabyte flash drive. So let me see if I understand you correctly, Ms. Shore. You’re telling me that on this memory stick you’ve just handed to me, is records of Mr. Dylan Hunt’s business dealings?”
