Total pages in book: 98
Estimated words: 94076 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94076 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
“Thanks.” Needing to come makes me grouchy. I shouldn’t take it out on Ivan, but he’s an extension of his employer. I’ll settle on being short with him but not rude.
I’ll save my rudeness for Rex.
“Mr. Roy wanted me to give you this.” Ivan hands me a thick manila folder.
“What’s this?”
“A little something I picked up this morning at locker six-nine-six-nine.”
That’s the locker number Mina gave me. I flip over the pile and spot the telltale label. A sticker of a demon-eyed kitten holding a smoking bazooka. KittyBang. These are the files of everything Mina’s dug up.
Rex figured out I’ve been looking for them and got Ivan to intercept them.
“How considerate,” I mutter. “How many of the files did Rex have you destroy?”
“They’re all there. I swear it.” We’re at a stop light, and he holds up his hands as if I’m pointing a gun at him. “Untouched.”
I don’t believe him, but it’s not his fault. I’d yell at Rex later, but that would mean breaking my determination to never see him again.
I rip open the seals and pour the papers onto my lap. Most are printouts of webpages or scanned documents with Mina’s notes in blue Sharpie. One sheaf is all about Rex’s family, the Roys, with a few pages dedicated to his guardian, Hamish Hitchcock, and various close employees.
I set that aside to dig into the thicker pile that covers his business dealings. There are photocopies of incorporation articles for various companies with a top sheet summarizing Mina’s findings. She’s drawn a spider web connecting over three hundred secret or shell companies owned by Rex Roy, not including Roy Industries or Knight Corp. She’s found Rex’s hiding places. From there, she’s been able to dig into a few of the secret companies directly. And she’s discovered his ownership stake in Club Empire.
More importantly, she has evidence of secret weapons labs that manufacture everything from specialized body armor to stealth surveillance equipment to weapons. There’s a report on a newly developed knockout gas that’s scentless, tasteless, and undetected on any chemical profile. The gas Rex used to immobilize Gregory Martin before tying him up and stabbing him.
This could be the evidence of everything Rex has done. It’s circumstantial, but I could paint a picture of an obsessed billionaire who had the means to surveil and kill three victims. I’ll have to convince the lead detectives to dig and maybe point them in the right direction, but they might come around if I offer a strong enough motive.
There’s one more piece I could add to the puzzle, one missing link. It would suck, but for my accusations to stick, I’d have to reveal what I know about Rex surveilling a fourth victim: me. Our run-ins, our private meetings, everything. It would lead to hours of uncomfortable questions, and I’d be removed from the case. My life and my privacy would be invaded and under scrutiny. And it would go on and on until the end of the trial. My career wouldn’t survive. Exposing myself like this would be like being skinned alive, but I’d be willing to do it. I’ll brave anything for justice.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. No use thinking about that painful step before I have to take it.
Bottom line: the papers in my lap don’t build a conclusive case, but they’re a start. Combined with the video I found of a masked man in body armor, they could lead to Rex’s downfall.
Why did he let me have them? He had Ivan intercept them. I’m used to his power plays, but this one is different. Rex is private. He’s threatened Mina, swatted her, and might have done much worse if I hadn’t asked him to stop. He’s only backed off for my sake. He doesn’t want anyone to know the details of his secret life. He works hard to maintain a bland façade, but it’s only a cover for what he’s really up to. Stalking and killing people. Hunting, as he calls it.
The only reason he would allow this information to come to me is if I couldn’t do anything about it. He’d get a thrill out of that.
But there’s another reason. He wants me to know him. He’s said before that I’m the only one who sees him for who he is. I thought that was his way of taunting me—the detective who can’t snare her quarry. And maybe it is, but he also gets a kick out of drawing me into his world. He wants to drag me down to the depths where he resides.
It’s probably all these reasons and more. Nothing with Rex is simple. Every move is calculated to bring him maximum gain and narrow the options of anyone who opposes him. It’s more than 3D chess. It’s layer upon layer of traps, and I’m too deep in his web to untangle it.