LINDEN
I watched the three-minute apology video of Tatiana Golds on TikTok. She posted it on all her social media accounts.
“To avoid paying the damages because there’s no way she would win. This is what she did?” Sax wasn’t happy.
Neither was I, but not because of what she did. Gustav fled the moment he knew he was in trouble. Someone must have tipped him off.
“That’s good for me, but the real culprit is still out there. Her reputation is over. No one would watch her video and take her review seriously, and that’s because of a few bucks.”
Sax looked at me. “You mean your father-in-law. That son of a bitch is sneaky.”
“Estelle must have spooked him with filing a case against his speech.”
“Precisely. So what exactly did he had on you that day?”
I looked at the screen. The video blurred, and the sound muted. “I was scared for Jasper. I know someone like Ilya wouldn’t just execute him. It would be a mercy to shoot him in the head. Instead, Jasper would be tortured, skin alive until he died.”
“I’m sorry, bro.”
“It’s fine. Moses made an offer that Ilya and his family of criminals cannot touch us.”
“So all you have to do is fix your marriage, then?”
“I still have unfinished business with my monster-in-law.”
“Oh, boy. Gustav left. Why would you still want to go after him?” Sax wasn’t impressed and didn’t try to hide it.
“He used my marriage and my friends to get to me. Do you think I would just let it go? He threatened the wrong person, Sax.”
“Let’s see what your wife has to say to that.”
“She already hates me. She’s mad, and I don’t know what to do anymore, but it’s all my fault. I did it to myself because I thought she would understand once she knew the truth behind it. I hurt her, yeah, but it wasn’t easy for me either. I went to save Jasper because I knew Estelle would discover the truth, but it wasn’t the case for her.”
“If you go against her father, man, you might not have a marriage to come back. Trust me, she understands you, but she also understands the importance of family. Gustav’s her family, too.”
“I know.”
“What is your plan with Gustav? What exactly are you going to use against someone like Gustav? If I know he’s already with Weston.”
“That fucker too.” I breathed deeply. “But I’m not worried about Weston. The Agency will take care of him.”
“I didn’t exactly get a direct answer the last time I asked. That woman, Grace.”
“Didn’t she say if I tell you, I have to kill you?”
Sax’s face lit up. “Jasper is one of them? Holy mother of!”
“I didn’t know until I was there.”
“The first time you went there on your honeymoon. So that was all the secrecy all about. Man, that was dope. I’m happy for our man.”
“Me too.” I chuckled. “Hanslo will get early parole, but you know that’s bullshit. The Agency will have an agreement with the federal prison, FBI, under discretion because Hanslo has a lot of useful information for The Agency.”
“Well damn.”
“Boss.” Lynx came in. “Someone wants to talk to you at Osmium.”
“On Saturday?” My brows met together.
“She said it’s important.”
“She?”
“Tatiana Golds.”
“She is at Osmium?” Sax asked in disbelief.
“Yeah, mate. I just received a call from Yue,” Lynx confirmed it.
“What does she want from me?”
“She won’t say a word, only to you, boss.”
I locked my jaw. My nose flared. “Fuck.”
I met Estelle in the kitchen. “You’re awake. Morning.”
She just looked at me. Her expression was blank. She really took her anger to the next level. I couldn’t blame her, though. I might believe this wasn’t acting. Our marriage slipped off my fingers, and my life was a pit.
“I have to go to Osmium.”
“You don’t have to tell me your business.”
“I’m your husband, and I—”
“Then you should have done that long ago if you considered me your wife.”
“Jesus, baby. You’re my wife.”
“The bearer of your child. The wife on paper. That’s how you saw me. You never considered me as your partner in life, Linden.”
“Then let me. Give me this chance if that’s how you see yourself. I will be a better husband, but it won’t happen if you keep pushing me away.”
“Maybe this marriage is irredeemable.”
“I don’t believe that.” My voice came out harsh, causing her to shoot daggers at me.
“Well, it’s not up to you, is it?”
“It’s up to us, Estelle. I’m not done. I’m not giving up.”
“You can talk to my lawyers.” She got up from the chair. “Oh, we didn’t sign a prenup, but I will make sure I will get every penny I deserve.” I couldn’t believe I was hearing this. Estelle was terrifying when pissed off. I was prouder of her and frightened at the same time.
“You can have all my money, baby. I don’t give a shit. What I want in my life is my wife and my kid.”
She looked surprised, but she quickly blinked it off.
“Anyway, I have to go to Osmium. Your friend Tatiana Golds just appeared there and won’t talk to anyone but me.”
“She already made that statement. What else does she want?”
“Maybe to get fucked.”
Boy, her face just turned red. Her eyes narrowed. Was she jealous? She didn’t say a word, though. She just walked out of her kitchen.
I couldn’t help but shake my head in amusement.
***
I’d been watching Tatiana in the interrogation room for a minute, and she hadn’t moved. Her eyes wandered around. Her hands remained under the table. My men had already checked the content of her bag, but nothing perilous. If I analyzed her body language, I thought she was terrified.
I entered the room. Her eyes recognized me instantly. I just sat across from her, and she hadn’t said anything.
“No sarcastic remarks?”
She smiled timidly. “Your building is futuristic. Not as revolutionary as Dubai’s Museum of the Future, though.”
“Enough. You already wasted my time. Why are you here, Ms. Golds, after the major backlash you started online
?”
“I already made my statements and wrote an email to your wife. I admit what I did was wrong. When he offered fifty thousand dollars, I fell for it. I forgot to think that no one would give me that money for free. I ended up ruining my rep. No one would trust me anymore. Even my manager and team left me because they had no idea what I’d done.”
“So you’re here to what? Apologize?”
“Yeah. I’m sorry for how I treated you, Sax, and the other guy. I’m sure they are listening and watching us, right?” She looked at the two-way glass. “I’m sorry.”
“Are you done?”
“Not quite.”
“Why are you really here?” I looked at the time on my watch.
“The guy who sent me the cash.”
“Gustav Bladwyn?”
“No. I think he works for Estelle’s father. I followed him when I couldn’t contact the number we used to communicate because I wanted to return his money. I ended up in a storage unit in the Edge. He was loading a lot of boxes.”
“What’s in the box?”
“Probably Star products.” She shrugged.
“Faux?”
“I don’t know. I thought it was worth looking into what’s in there. I want a payback after what he did to me.”
“What’s the storage number?”
“212-B.”
I rose from my seat. My guys are probably working on it right now.
“I’m coming with you.”
“No, you’re not.” I narrowed my eyes.
“I just give you the location of possible knockoff products. I’m going.”
“Stay. If what you’re saying is true, we will inform the cops. Don’t worry. You will get all the credits.”
“I don’t need the credits. That bastard ruined my career.”
“Well, it’s not Gustav Bladwyn, and you happily accepted his bribe, Ms. Golds. Stay put.”
I walked out of the room. Sax and Kye met me in the hallway.
“Do you think she’s telling the truth, or it’s a trap?” Kye had a point. It could be, but it was worth looking into it.
“I don’t know. That’s why she stays here. If it’s a trap, I swear to God, she will be locked up in jail for a long time.”
Thirty minutes later, we arrived at the storage facility. The storage manager cooperated and opened the unit for us. Tatiana was right. It was filled with at least thirty unlabeled boxes.
I held the manager’s arm when he first stepped inside. “Don’t. Let my men check for the traps.”
“Why would someone put traps in the storage?”
“I can’t disclose.”
Yue scanned the room for IEDs or tripwires. “It’s clear.” Yue took one box and brought it to us. He ripped off the tape and opened it.
“It’s Star products,” Sax said the obvious.
I took one in the set and ripped the package open. I had a feeling it was more than just a rip-off product to ruin Estelle’s company. I checked the label and the product itself. It smelled the same as what Estelle used.
“I don’t understand. Did they steal these from the warehouse or the factory?”
“I don’t think so, man.” Kye checked the hand cream. “It’s good, though. No wonder this is best sellers.”
I dug into the middle of the box, and I found something. A medium box, well-taped. “Son of a bitch.”
Yue took it from me to get rid of the tape around it. He then showed me what was that secured box.
“Call the DEA.”
“They want to drag my wife’s name just to get her out of Star LLC.”
“Son of bitches. Who would believe them?”
I turned to the manager.
He shrugged. “Sir, I have no idea. I don’t check what they store in the unit.”
“I want the name of who rented here.”
“Of course.”
Kye went to him to the office.
“Keep it like this. We don’t want to touch and ruin the evidence. My wife will be furious about this.” I turned to Sax, who started taking pictures. “Put Lynx on. I wanna talk to Tatiana.”
Sax dialed Lynx. “Here.”
“Lynx put Tatiana on. Don’t allow her to go out of the building. There’s maybe a way to clear her name and get her back to her job.”
“So you’re helping her now?” Sax snorted.
I looked at Sax. “Everyone deserves a second chance, right?”
He shrugged. “Whatever, brother.”
“She’s here,” Lynx said on the line.
“Mr. Linden?”
“Yeah. It’s me. We found something. If this is legit, I can’t disclose it right now. Maybe you just find a way to redeem yourself to your followers. I can’t guarantee, but I will try to help you.”
“What is it?”
“I can’t tell you right now, but don’t go anywhere.”
“I need to go home.”
“You’re not safe. Wait until I arrange you a safe place.”
“Am I in danger?”
“Not sure, but better safe than sorry.”
“Okay. Thanks.”
My phone just rang. I gave Sax his phone and answered mine.
“Yeah?”
“Your wife left the house.”
“What do you mean she left the house, Tarique?”