Page 42 of Redemption

Chapter 33

“I haveno idea how he was able to explain the missing body or cover up the fact that I killed Mr. Childress. At this point, it doesn’t really matter. He needs to be locked up and his crimes exposed. I just want him to pay for what he’s done. Not only to Casey, but to other families.”

Webber hadn’t said anything during my recitation. He’d merely pulled out a notepad and pen from his inside suit coat pocket and scribbled as I spoke. He paused on occasion to look up at me, but otherwise he didn’t make a peep.

“So, you never saw what he did with the body?”

“No. After I checked to make sure Mr. Childress was dead, I quickly cleaned myself up and called my father. Within fifteen minutes, he was home. I went upstairs to check on Casey, clean her up, and change her clothes. After that, I put her to bed. My father called me down to his study. On my way there, I passed by the kitchen. I peered in, but the body was gone and floor was cleaned of any blood. The wine bottle, glass, and paper I had seen on the counter were missing. It was as though nothing happened.”

“You mentioned this note before. Do you remember what it said?”

My mind flashed back to that day, my memory as vivid now as it was ten years ago.

Shocked, I stared at the body of the man on the floor in front of me. The sound of the knife clattering on the tile startled me to awareness. Slowly, I crept over to Mr. Childress. His chest remained still, but blood continued to spread across the sparkling white marble floor. I reached down and checked for a pulse. Nothing. I stepped carefully over the body and picked up the piece of paper that lay on the counter.

Please enjoy the gift I left you upstairs.

You have one hour to use your gift as you see fit,

like the last time. If, in the future,

you’d like access to your gift again,

don’t hesitate to call on me.

Bile churned in my stomach when I spotted my father’s initials at the bottom of the page. I dropped the paper and raced to the bathroom, where I emptied my stomach of its meager contents. Oh, God, Casey.

Webber stopped writing when I disclosed the contents of the note. He raised his head and stared at me with horror in his eyes.

“Jesus. Your dad allowed this man to rape his thirteen-year-old daughter more than once? You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”

Sadly, I wished I were. “My father had been ‘gifting’ Casey to Mr. Childress, and others I believe, but could never confirm, for over a year. I confronted him about it, and he slapped me across the face. He told me I’d just cost him millions of dollars. He then went on to explain that I was now indebted to him since he had to clean up my mess. He told me to keep that in mind the next time I decided to stick my nose in someone else’s business. That with a single phone call and the murder weapon, I’d go to prison. Then, he dismissed me. It was at that moment I started hacking into every one of my father’s business accounts, computers, security systems, everything I could possibly think of. There was no way I was ever going to be indebted to that son of a bitch. Especially not after what he’d done to Casey.”

A new expression crossed Webber’s face. One I could only define as determination. As though my mission to bring down my father had now become his.

“You’ve said that there are city officials who work for your father. Do you have evidence on who these officials are? Payoffs, bribes, blackmail information? Anything?”

Webber went back to looking at his notepad with his questions.

“Of course. Mayor Owens and your boss, Chief Stockton, are the two major players. There are also a few beat cops, but I’d have to look up their names. Those are the only ones I have solid proof of a connection to my father.”

At my pronouncement of two of the most prominent civil servants in all of Pinegrove, Webber stopped scratching on his pad as his head shot up to look at me.

“You’re telling me that the mayor and the chief of police are involved in all of this?” His voice reeked of disbelief. I didn’t give a shit what he thought. I had sound bytes of phone calls, emails, and video feed of personal meetings between them. I’d seen money exchange hands. I had all of their bank records and records of offshore accounts. A person didn’t make seven figures as a civil servant unless they were dirty. Instead of answering, I only continued to stare at him.

Webber rubbed his hands over his head, clutching his hair in a fist in evident frustration.

“Jesus Christ. This is a fucking nightmare you’ve just dragged me into Black.”

“Connor says you can be trusted. I’m hesitant to believe that, but I’m going along with this because I trust Connor’s judgment. So, now that you have all this information, what do you plan on doing with it?”

I intentionally wanted him on the spot. If I was going down for my shit, I wanted to make sure I took my father down with me.

“If your father’s crimes are as international as you say they are, then the FBI is going to need to be involved. It’s possible that the criminals your father is associated with are already on the Fed’s radar. It would be like killing two birds with one stone. The only problem is, I don’t have any Federal connections.”

“I do,” Connor spoke up. “I have several contacts within the FBI that I’ve worked with on a few cases. Guys I trust. Let me make some phone calls, and we’ll work out a plan of action. As far as the information you have on Josie, what are your plans regarding her?”

My stomach clenched at Connor’s question, but there was nothing to be done about it now. I’d confessed, and my crime was now out in the open. The only place to go was forward. I turned to look at Webber while I waited with baited breath for his response.

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