Chapter 6 - The Interrogation
In the sterile, brightly lit interrogation room at the FBI Field Office, Vanessa Pierce slammed her manicured hands onto the steel table, glaring at Elias Thorne. She was no longer wearing the cream designer coat; she was dressed in a standard-issue orange jumpsuit, her blonde hair messy, the dark roots showing at her scalp.
"I am not saying another word without an immunity deal," Vanessa sneered, leaning back in her metal chair. "You have my husband's ledgers. You have his signature on the corporate documents. Logan is the CEO. I was just a consultant. You can't pin the syndicate's money laundering on me."
Elias sat across from her, his posture relaxed, his expression entirely unbared. He opened a manila folder, sliding a glossy photograph across the table.
"We aren't looking at Logan's signatures right now, Vanessa," Elias said. "Or should I call you Maria Consuelo? Because that’s the name on the passport we pulled from your safety deposit box in Zurich."
Vanessa’s arrogant smirk faltered, a slight tremor appearing in her jaw.
"We know who you are," Elias continued, leaning forward, his voice dropping to a low, intimidating register. "We know you were planted by the Valvona syndicate to infiltrate Pierce Holdings. Logan was a mark. A greedy, arrogant idiot with a clean corporate structure that you hijacked to clean drug money. But you made a mistake, Vanessa. You got greedy. You tried to burn Rachel Vance alive when she found your private ledger, and in doing so, you handed her the very evidence she needed to destroy you."
"That crazy bitch set the fire herself," Vanessa lied, though her voice lacked conviction. "She was obsessed with Logan. She couldn't handle that he upgraded."
The heavy metal door of the interrogation room clicked open.
I walked in, flanked by a federal marshal. I was wearing a tailored navy suit that hid the bandages on my torso, my hair pulled back neatly, my posture perfectly straight. I looked down at the woman who had stolen my life, worn my diamonds, and ordered my death.
Vanessa’s eyes widened in absolute shock. She looked at me as if she were seeing a ghost.
"Hello, Vanessa," I said, my voice cool and even, ringing through the acoustic tiles of the small room. "You don't look very upgraded today."
"What is she doing in here?" Vanessa shrieked, turning to her lawyer, a nervous public defender who looked entirely out of his depth. "She's a civilian! Get her out of here!"
"Ms. Vance is an active consultant on this case," Elias said smoothly. "She’s the one who decrypted your master files."
I stepped up to the table, leaning my hands on the cold steel. I looked directly into Vanessa's terrified, desperate eyes. "I brought you a gift, Vanessa," I said softly, sliding a small, silver USB drive across the table. "This contains the unredacted communications between you and the Valvona lieutenants. The ones where you promised them you had handled the 'Rachel problem.' The ones where you explicitly ordered my murder."
Vanessa stared at the drive as if it were a live grenade.
"The U.S. Attorney is offering you a choice," I continued, savoring every syllable of her destruction. "You can confess, turn state's evidence against the cartel, and spend the rest of your life in a supermax prison where they can't get to you. Or, you can keep playing games, and Elias will happily leak the fact that you gave up the offshore accounts to save yourself. How long do you think you’ll last in general population once the cartel thinks you’re a rat?"
Vanessa broke. The polished, manipulative sociopath vanished, replaced by a sobbing, terrified woman. She buried her face in her hands, her shoulders shaking violently as the reality of her inescapable cage closed around her.
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"I'll sign," she wept into her palms. "I'll sign whatever you want. Just keep them away from me."
I stood up straight, adjusting the cuffs of my suit jacket. I looked at Elias, offering him a single, satisfied nod. The queen was off the board. Now, it was time to capture the king.
