Chapter 15 - Celeste's Bargain
Celeste Whitmore was arrested at ten the next morning.
She wasn't dragged from a mansion.
She was taken from a budget hotel near the Asheville airport wearing oversized sunglasses and yesterday's clothes.
Marcus brought the news personally.
"She tried to purchase a ticket to Nassau using cash."
Rafe gave a humorless smile.
"Victor spent years hiding in the Caribbean."
Eleanor closed her laptop.
"She knows where he is."
"Maybe."
"I want to talk to her."
Rafe didn't like it.
But he didn't stop her.
Two hours later, Eleanor entered a county interview room.
Celeste sat behind a steel table.
Without diamonds, expensive makeup, or servants, she seemed smaller.
But her eyes remained vicious.
"My attorney said I didn't have to speak."
"Then don't."
Eleanor sat opposite her.
Celeste waited.
Eleanor said nothing.
Thirty seconds passed.
Then a minute.
Celeste finally snapped.
"Well?"
"You always hated silence."
Celeste's lips tightened.
"You came here to gloat."
"No."
"Your grotesque husband took my house, my accounts, my position—"
"My house."
Celeste flinched.
Eleanor leaned back.
"You knew Victor Vance before my father died."
For the first time, fear moved across Celeste's face.
Tiny.
But visible.
"I don't know who you're talking about."
"My father recorded everything."
That wasn't entirely true.
Celeste didn't know that.
Her composure cracked.
"Arthur was paranoid."
"So you did know."
Celeste realized her mistake.
Eleanor almost smiled.
"Did Victor kill my father?"
"No."
Too fast.
"Did you?"
Celeste's face went white.
"No!"
Eleanor watched her.
Something was wrong.
Celeste was cruel, greedy, manipulative.
But the terror in her eyes wasn't guilt.
It was fear.
"Tell me."
Celeste looked toward the observation glass.
"Can Calder hear us?"
"Probably."
"Then make him leave."
"No."
Celeste whispered, "Victor will kill me."
"He already abandoned you."
"You don't understand that man."
"I understand him better than you think."
Celeste's fingers trembled.
"Victor approached me after Arthur discovered the shipping routes. He offered money. A lot of money. He wanted access to the rail contracts."
"And you gave it to him."
"I needed capital."
"You stole millions."
"I deserved something!"
Eleanor's disgust deepened.
"What happened to my father?"
Celeste looked down.
"The night Arthur died, Victor's mechanic tampered with his car."
Eleanor felt the room tilt.
"What did he do?"
"I don't know exactly."
"Don't lie."
"The cabin filtration system."
Eleanor froze.
"Victor said it would make Arthur sick. Dizzy. Enough to scare him into leaving the investigation alone."
A memory struck her.
Her father complaining of headaches.
Nausea.
Confusion.
Symptoms everyone blamed on stress.
"What was released into the cabin?"
Celeste began crying.
Not gracefully.
Not beautifully.
Ugly, frightened tears.
"I didn't know it would kill him."
Eleanor's voice became ice.
"What was it?"
"Carbon monoxide."
The words sliced through her.
Arthur's heart attack hadn't been natural.
He had been poisoned inside his own car.
"And you knew afterward."
Celeste sobbed.
"Victor told me to keep quiet."
"You helped cover up my father's murder."
"I was afraid!"
"You were rich."
"I was trapped!"
Eleanor stood.
Celeste reached for her.
"Wait!"
Eleanor stopped.
"Victor took Project Blue Ridge because he's selling it."
"To whom?"
"A private weapons contractor."
Rafe entered the room before Eleanor could ask another question.
Apparently he had heard enough.
Celeste recoiled.
Rafe's expression was terrifyingly calm.
"Name."
Celeste swallowed.
"Halcyon Defense Systems."
Marcus appeared behind him.
"That's a shell company."
Celeste nodded rapidly.
"The buyer is meeting Victor in three days."
"Where?"
"I don't know."
Rafe placed both hands on the table.
"You've spent twenty years lying professionally, Celeste. Try something new."
She broke.
"Lake Lure."
"Where?"
"An old resort property on the southern shore. Victor owns it through a holding company."
Eleanor headed for the door.
Celeste called after her.
"Eleanor!"
She stopped.
For one foolish second, some buried thirteen-year-old piece of her hoped Celeste would apologize.
Instead the woman whispered, "If I testify, can you make the charges disappear?"
Eleanor looked at her.
Then she finally understood.
Celeste would never change.
"No."
May you like
She opened the door.
"But you can tell the truth anyway."
