Page 92 of The Mastermind
He dug the heels of his palms into his eyes and blinked. “Brian?”
I sighed. “No, it’s Remi. Nothing’s wrong.”
“Remi. Sorry, I’m exhausted. Make yourself at home . . .” He fell back to sleep.
I needed to speak to him without Brian or Mallory around, but his current condition prevented any coherent conversation. He wouldn’t understand me.
I went into Brian’s office and inserted a tiny bug into the vase of the plant beside his desk. The guy had tried to kill me, and I needed to know what he was up to. I had paid good money for this state-of-the-art recording device, which was used by top government agents.
Mom had given her share of the house to me in her will, so if my dad wanted to sell the house, he would need my permission, and, of course, I would reject it. This house had a prime location. Technically, I could do whatever I wanted in this house. Right now, I was merely exercising my right as part owner.
After one last glance at my discreet recorder, I went up to my old bedroom. I half expected Brian or Mallory to have tossed out my stuff, but they hadn’t. They probably assumed it was trash and not worth their time. The room looked the same except for the layers of dust on my desk, chairs, bookcases, and on the floor. I supposed Mallory ordered the cleaning services to ignore this room. She didn’t consider me her “family,” so there was no reason to take care of it. I was glad she left it alone.
Going into my closet, I sifted through several shoe boxes. There were boxes filled with magic cards, baseball cards, and comic books. The last box was filled with random things and the friendship bracelet Audri had given me a long time ago. The blue and orange ribbons still looked vibrant and beautiful. I tucked it into my pocket and placed everything back the way I found it.
A white cleaning van with a hot pink logo pulled up and parked behind my car as I exited the house. Two ladies wearing black shirts with the same logo got out, opened the side door, and retrieved their cleaning supplies. The older lady, who had her hair in a bun, carrying a bucket and a broom, tripped on something and fell.
I helped her up and gathered the fallen items. “You okay?”
“Yes, thank you,” she said with a thick accent, staring at me suspiciously.
Maybe she thought I was a thief who had just left the house. “My dad is William Starke. I just came to visit him. He’s sleeping right now.”
She nodded and smiled, looking relieved. Her coworker, a younger girl with a ponytail, rushed over to her with more supplies.
“Have a great day,” they told me.
“You too.”
An idea percolated in my mind. I got into my car, drove to the next block, parked along the curb, and waited. As I waited for the cleaning van to drive by, I opened a file where I had saved a week’s worth of videos the jewelry store manager had sent me. I had reviewed the recording from that day, but couldn’t see the individual who pushed Audri into oncoming traffic. The culprit had hidden behind several crowds of people.
I had some time to kill, so I played a video that occurred three days before Audri’s mishap. Nothing interesting appeared, just people walking back and forth with shopping bags. A couple stopped and argued in front of the jewelry store, and my heart quickened. I rewound the scene and replayed it.
“Fucking hell.”
This discovery shifted my plan to take down Brian and Mallory. The video sparked a memory. I opened another file of Audri’s recording of Lawrence’s harassment on the day she went to HR. I never gave the recording to the police since he was already dead.
You’re lucky you’re Audri Wu. If you were anyone else, I’d take you so easily.
Lawrence’s words bounced in my head. It made sense now. He knew exactly who she was. She wasn’t just an employee, she was the daughter of Jacob and Melanie Wu from Wu Real Estate Solutions, a successful multimillion-dollar company.
What did Lawrence mean by taking her? He was lucky he was already dead because I would kill him myself. Though Lawrence was dead, his ties to Brian and Mallory would help me find answers to why they wanted to hurt Audri.
The sound of a car approaching switched my brain back to the reason I was waiting in the car. I clicked off the video and prepared myself to take the next step.
In my rearview mirror, I watch the van approach. I got out of my car and waved them aside. They pulled over and the women got out of the van.
“You okay. Car problems?” The older lady looked at my car tires.
“No, I’m fine, thank you. I need your help on a different matter.” I told her I was worried about my father’s declining health condition and that I didn’t get along with my stepmother and stepbrother, which were all true. I didn’t want to discuss the matter on the house property in case the camera outside the house was still working and captured us.
Somehow, they trusted me too. I discovered that they were mother and daughter immigrants. They had also seen my dad’s health decline rapidly. Lorna and Melba feared that if they said something to Mallory or Brian, the mother and son would cause trouble for them. They were waiting for their citizenship approval and feared retaliation. I didn’t blame them. Mallory would absolutely create trouble for anyone who crossed her.
“I’m one of the owners of that house, and I give you permission to let me know everything you witness,” I assured her that no one would question her credibility, and that their family would be safe. I meant that. Hell, I’d pay the officials to approve their citizenship, and I’d give them stable jobs.
“I saw Mrs. Miller-Starke put some stuff into his Gatorade. She didn’t see me. Your dad loves his sweet drinks,” Melba said.
Fury spiked in me. Mallory was trying to kill him just as she had tried to kill me. Was this the reason for the falsified will? With my dad out of the way, they would inherit his portion and make my life hell.