Chapter 26 - The Doctor Who Signed the Lie

Dr. Samuel Orton was alive.

That fact alone changed everything.

Federal agents reached the Cedar Ridge medical retreat twelve minutes before Victor.

Orton was no longer on staff.

He was a patient.

A stroke two years earlier had left his right hand weak and his speech slower, but his mind was intact.

Agent Ellis called Jason from a private consultation room.

“I need you to understand something.”

“What?”

“We cannot promise what he will say.”

“I know.”

“And you will not speak to him until we determine whether he has counsel.”

Jason looked at Jaden.

“Understood.”

Victor’s vehicle turned into the retreat’s access road.

Agents stopped him before he reached the main building.

He demanded to know why.

No one answered.

He was not arrested.

Not yet.

Agent Ellis wanted to see what he did next.

Victor sat in his car for nearly twenty minutes.

Then he made a call.

The number belonged to a prepaid phone.

The recipient was unknown.

Afterward, Victor drove away.

Jason watched the surveillance feed.

“He knows the doctor is protected.”

“Yes,” Ellis said.

“Will he run?”

“Maybe.”

Jaden looked toward Jason.

“Say it.”

Jason almost smiled.

“Maybe.”

Inside the retreat, Orton agreed to speak after a lawyer arrived.

His first reaction to Jason’s name was visible even over video.

He closed his eyes.

“I wondered when this would happen.”

Agent Ellis leaned forward.

“When what would happen?”

“When the Holloway family came back.”

Jason’s fingers tightened.

“You knew my father?”

Orton looked at him through the screen.

“Yes.”

“You signed his death certificate.”

“Yes.”

“Was the cause of death a stroke?”

Orton’s face twisted.

“Eventually.”

Jaden stepped forward.

“What does eventually mean?”

Orton looked at his lawyer.

The lawyer nodded.

Orton took a slow breath.

“Your father collapsed after receiving an injection.”

Jason went completely still.

“What injection?”

“A medication intended to lower blood pressure.”

“Was it prescribed?”

“No.”

Jaden’s voice rose.

“Then why did he receive it?”

Orton looked ashamed.

“Because I gave it to him.”

Silence.

Benita covered her mouth.

Jason’s voice became cold.

“Why?”

Orton’s eyes filled with tears.

“Victor told me it was harmless.”

Jaden laughed bitterly.

“Harmless?”

“He said your father was having panic episodes. He said he refused treatment because he did not trust hospitals.”

“And you believed him?”

“No.”

Orton looked down.

“I believed the money.”

The answer was worse because it was honest.

Agent Ellis asked, “How much did Victor pay you?”

“Fifty thousand before. One hundred fifty after.”

Lucas whispered, “Two hundred thousand.”

The ledger.

Orton continued.

“He told me to document a spontaneous vascular event.”

Jason’s stomach turned.

“Did my father know you were giving him the injection?”

“No.”

“How did you get near him?”

“I was invited to the house for dinner.”

Jaden stepped closer to the camera.

“You murdered him.”

Orton flinched.

“I did not intend—”

“You injected him with a drug he did not need because Victor paid you.”

“I know.”

“You watched us bury him.”

Orton’s voice broke.

“I know.”

Jaden walked away.

Cynthia followed him.

Jason remained.

“What was Victor afraid my father would do?”

Orton looked toward Agent Ellis.

“He said your father had started collecting records.”

“What records?”

“I don’t know.”

“Did Victor mention me?”

“Yes.”

Jason waited.

“He said you were already out of the way.”

Benita’s hand tightened around the back of Jason’s chair.

Jason’s face went still.

“Out of the way.”

“Yes.”

“And Jaden?”

Orton hesitated.

“He said the younger son would learn.”

Jaden heard from across the room.

He turned.

“Learn what?”

Orton shook his head.

“I don’t know.”

Jason asked, “Did my father say anything before he died?”

Orton’s face changed.

“Yes.”

“What?”

“He grabbed my sleeve.”

Jason’s throat tightened.

“What did he say?”

“He said, ‘Tell my sons I was wrong to wait.’”

Nobody spoke.

Jason looked down.

His father had known.

Not everything.

But enough.

Enough to understand the cost of delay.

Agent Ellis continued questioning.

Orton agreed to testify.

He also turned over an old voice recorder.

“I kept it because I was afraid Victor would kill me.”

On the device was a conversation recorded after the funeral.

Victor’s voice was unmistakable.

“You did what you were paid to do.”

Orton answered, “He died.”

Victor said, “He was already dying from fear.”

Orton whispered, “This was not the agreement.”

Victor’s reply chilled the room.

“The agreement was that the company would stop asking questions.”

Agent Ellis ended the playback.

“That is probable cause.”

Jaden stared.

“For murder?”

“For conspiracy, homicide-related charges, bribery and more. We are coordinating with state authorities now.”

Jason looked toward the window.

“Bring him in.”

Ellis shook her head.

“Not yet.”

Jaden exploded.

“What else do you need?”

“Victor has money, lawyers and possible law-enforcement contacts. If we arrest too early, we may lose the network.”

“He killed our father.”

“I know.”

“No, you know it as a case. We know it as—”

Cynthia touched his arm.

Jaden stopped.

Ellis’s voice softened.

“I understand enough to know you want this finished.”

Jason looked at her.

“What do you need?”

“Victor’s active accounts. His operational phones. The people he is paying now.”

Lucas lifted the black notebook.

“We have codes.”

“Old codes.”

“What if they are still in use?”

Ellis looked at him.

“Then we follow one.”

The team traced the most recent pattern in Victor’s financial network.

A shell company.

Then a security contractor.

Then a cash withdrawal scheduled for the following day.

The pickup location was a private airfield.

Jaden frowned.

“He’s leaving.”

“Possibly,” Ellis said.

Jason watched the transaction.

“Or paying someone who is.”

Benita looked at him.

“Gideon?”

“He’s in custody.”

“Then who?”

Lucas answered.

“Someone we haven’t met yet.”

That night, Victor sent Jason a message.

WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT YOUR FATHER.

Jason stared at it.

Jaden swore.

“What does he want?”

“To control the story.”

“Don’t answer.”

Jason typed.

TOMORROW. COMPANY BOARDROOM. 11 A.M.

Agent Ellis looked at him.

“That was not the plan.”

Jason met her gaze.

“It is now.”

“No.”

“Victor thinks I have financial records. He does not know we have Orton.”

“That does not make this safe.”

“It makes him predictable.”

Ellis folded her arms.

“Predictable men still shoot people.”

Benita spoke.

“Then don’t let Jason go alone.”

Jason turned.

“You are not coming.”

She looked at him.

“You don’t get to decide that.”

“I absolutely do.”

“Because you’re my employer?”

“Yes.”

“Then fire me.”

Jason blinked.

Jaden looked away to hide a smile.

Benita continued.

“If you want to walk into a room with a man who helped put you in a wheelchair, you are not going without people who know what you look like when you are pretending not to be afraid.”

Jason stared at her.

“You are impossible.”

“You have mentioned that.”

Agent Ellis interrupted.

“Neither of you is going in unprotected.”

The boardroom was wired that night.

Hidden cameras.

Microphones.

Agents in adjacent rooms.

A controlled entrance.

No weapons allowed past the security point.

At 10:58 the next morning, Victor Hale walked into the building.

He wore a charcoal suit.

No tie.

His expression was calm.

He entered the boardroom at exactly eleven.

Jason waited at the far end of the table.

Jaden sat beside him.

Benita stayed in the adjoining observation room despite arguing for twenty minutes.

Victor closed the door.

“You look better.”

Jason’s voice was flat.

“I am.”

Victor sat.

“I’m glad.”

“Are you?”

Victor’s face did not change.

“You asked to speak about my father.”

Victor placed both hands on the table.

“Your father made mistakes.”

Jason stared.

“Which one?”

“Trusting people who wanted to destroy what we built.”

“Who wanted to destroy it?”

“Regulators. Competitors. People inside the company.”

“You?”

Victor laughed softly.

“You think too much like your father.”

“My father thought you killed him.”

Victor’s smile vanished.

For the first time, the room changed.

Jaden leaned forward.

“What?”

Jason continued.

“He left a recording.”

Victor stared at him.

“That is a lie.”

Jason said nothing.

Victor’s eyes narrowed.

“What recording?”

Jason watched him.

“You just answered the question.”

Victor stood.

Jaden stood too.

“Sit down.”

Victor looked at him.

“Your father would be ashamed of both of you.”

Jaden’s jaw tightened.

“Our father is dead.”

Victor’s voice became colder.

“Because he lost perspective.”

Jason felt Agent Ellis listening through the hidden microphone.

“Did Dr. Orton help him lose perspective?”

Victor froze.

Only for a fraction of a second.

But the cameras caught it.

Then he smiled again.

“I have no idea what you mean.”

Jason nodded.

“Good.”

Victor looked toward the door.

“I’m done.”

Jason spoke before he reached it.

“Gideon is talking.”

Victor stopped.

“Lucas is alive.”

Victor’s shoulders tightened.

“And Orton kept the recording.”

Victor slowly turned.

His face had changed.

The warm family friend was gone.

What remained was something much older and colder.

“You should have stayed in the chair and enjoyed your money.”

Jaden took one step forward.

Jason lifted a hand.

Victor looked at Jason’s legs.

“You were never supposed to die.”

Jason felt the room become silent.

Victor continued before he could stop himself.

“You were supposed to disappear from the business.”

Jason’s voice was almost a whisper.

“So you cut my brakes.”

Victor realized what he had said.

His mouth closed.

Then the boardroom door opened.

Agent Ellis entered with four officers.

“Victor Hale, do not move.”

Victor looked at Jason.

For the first time in years, fear appeared in his eyes.

But before the cuffs closed, he smiled.

“You think this ends with me?”

Agent Ellis pulled his hands behind his back.

Victor laughed softly.

“You still don’t know who approved the first payment.”

Jason’s stomach tightened.

“What payment?”

Victor looked over his shoulder.

May you like

[COMPLETED] She waited ten years for her fiancé, but the night she marri...

[COMPLETED] Five Years After My Mafia Husband Chose Another Woman, He Me...

[COMPLETED] I CALLED MY HUSBAND 18 TIMES WHILE OUR SON WAS DYING. EIGHT...

“The one that started all of this.”

Then officers led him away.