Page 69 of Decoded
Before I can show up my son-in-law's punches with a few of my own, the devil himself walks out of the house and into the backyard.
“Did you get what we needed?” Keaton asks.
“What is this asshole doing here?” Daniel demands, but I ignore him.
I pull my phone out of my pocket and stop the recording. I hold it up and shake it. “Yup. His confession is all on here.”
“What are you talking about? What confession?” Daniel looks between the two of us like he’s completely innocent and I wonder how I was friends with such a dumbass for so long.
Keaton speaks before I can open my mouth, “Just the one where you admit to violating my wife.”
“My daughter,” I grit between my teeth.
“Wait a minute. You knew? You said she didn’t tell you that something happened between us. You lied to me,” Daniel accuses.
“And you fucking assaulted my daughter,” I yell.
He throws his hands up in front of his chest, “Hey now, assault is a strong word. There’s no way Anna doesn’t want me. Hell, she would probably take any attention she can get from a man. Have you seen her?”
I look over and see my daughter’s husband marching over, ready to throw yet another punch at Daniel’s face.
Not this time, kid.
I curl up my fist and land it straight into Daniel’s gut, making him double over and gasp for breath.
“That’s for hurting my baby girl.”
He straightens and I can’t help but punch him in the same spot again.
“That’s for breaking my trust.”
Daniel is wheezing but still manages to pull himself to standing. He schools his features. “Craig, we’ve been friends fortoo long to let a misunderstanding come between us. How about we just drop the issue and move on, okay? I touched her. You touched me. We’re even.”
“We are far from even,” I growl at him.
“Listen, it’s my word against hers. You know this won’t hold up in court.”
“Maybe the recording isn’t strong enough to hold up on its own, so it’s a good thing I have another piece of information. You see, when you fuck with someone who works in the technology field, you may want to do a better job at covering up your secrets,” Keaton says to Daniel.
“We happened to uncover some interesting accounts at Brenner & Associates. Accounts that reveal what appear to be quite a bit of fraudulent activity. As a businessman myself, I think it’s important to share anything we find untoward with someone at the SEC. We wouldn’t want any corrupt companies to be taking advantage of unassuming folks.”
Daniel’s eyes grow wide in fear.
My son-in-law is a mastermind.
“So here is how things are going to go down,” Keaton continues. “Let me know which option works best for you.”
“Is this a threat?” Daniel says, straightening and popping his shoulders back.
“It’s a choice, Mr. Brenner. And I advise you to choose wisely.”
I would never admit this to my wife or daughter, but I think I’m actually starting to like my son-in-law.
“Option one. You resign from your company. You sell it and leave town. Quietly. You don’t contact this family, and you sure as fuck don’t contact Anna ever again.”
Daniel huffs out a laugh, “And if I don’t?”
“Well, that’s option two. That’s the option where I hand everything over to the SEC, along with the FBI cybercrime unit. You’ll be prosecuted for wire fraud, embezzlement, andsecurities violations. And once that hits the press, we follow it up with civil suits for harassment, stalking, and sexual assault.”
