Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 114793 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 574(@200wpm)___ 459(@250wpm)___ 383(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 114793 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 574(@200wpm)___ 459(@250wpm)___ 383(@300wpm)
“I’ll show you vendetta,” Benny growled under his breath.
Then, as if the scene couldn’t get more surreal, a figure stormed into the shot from stage right.
Gladys moved like a woman possessed—eyes blazing, back straight, and mouth tight with fury. Her heels clacked sharply against the polished floor as she marched up to Maddox and, without so much as a word, grabbed him by the ear. Maddox yelped like a kid caught stealing cookies.
Every reporter in the room gasped, flashes erupting as she yanked him down off the pew like he weighed nothing, dragging him past the crowd and toward the front of the chamber where the county sheriff and three stunned deputies stood frozen, mouths open.
“You arrest him,” she ordered, her voice ringing through the microphones. “You arrest him right now for corruption, conspiracy, attempted murder, obstruction of justice, and being a disgrace to his family name.”
The sheriff blinked. “Ma’am—”
“I raised this man!” Gladys barked. “And I’ve got more dirt on him than God. If you want your evidence, I’ll get it. I’ll give you names, payments, backdoor deals, hell—I’ll even walk you through the goddamn wire transfers.”
She dug into her handbag and yanked out her phone. “Start with this. My passcode's 1010—that’s Lara’s birthday. Now take it before I throw it at someone.”
We all stared at the screen in stunned silence. Gladys didn’t look the least bit concerned about cameras or optics. She was radiating a kind of fury that made everyone in the room, including the cops, take a step back.
“That woman,” Jesse said slowly, “is terrifying.”
“She’s a legend,” Malcolm corrected, grinning like a kid at Christmas. He was already tapping on his laptop. “All right, she wants data? I’m gonna get her everything Gabby posted, plus the rest of the garbage Maddox tried to bury.”
Benny leaned in. “What are you pulling?”
“Every buried contract, tax haven trail, offshore transfer, and scrubbed document I can find,” Malcolm replied. “I’ll package it for her to give to the sheriff. Neatly labeled, like a revenge gift basket.”
Matty and Remy slid into chairs on either side of him, already pulling up their own terminals.
“We’ll help,” Matty offered. “We’ve got backups of Gabby’s original files. Might be more she didn’t release yet.”
I should’ve felt triumphant. Hell, part of me did. We’d backed Maddox into a corner, and he was unraveling. Gladys had just gone full scorched earth in front of the press, and our tech crew was working in overdrive to make sure no one could sweep this under the rug again.
But something didn’t sit right. I leaned forward, my eyes narrowing on the live footage as I scanned every face in the background and every angle the camera offered. Someone was missing—and I couldn’t shake the feeling that it mattered more than we realized.
“I don’t see him.”
Jesse turned toward me. “Who?”
“Clayton Barris.” I stood slowly, my hand tightening into a fist. “He’s not there.”
There was no sign of him on the stage, not a glimpse of him in the crowd, and he wasn’t lingering in the back with the rest of Maddox’s usual goons. And that unsettled me more than anything else. Barris wasn’t the type to sit out a power play. If he wasn’t here, front and center, then it could only mean one thing—he was off somewhere else, planning something worse.
I stepped away from the TV, jaw clenched, with my phone already at my ear.
The moment Eddie picked up, I didn’t even wait for a hello. “Barris isn’t there, he’s not with Maddox or in the crowd. That bastard’s off the grid, and I don’t like it.”
Eddie’s voice came in, low and steady. “I’ve got my eyes on everyone here, and so does Ira.”
I stiffened. “Ira?”
“For a man of advanced age, he’s freakishly agile,” Eddie replied dryly. “Apparently, he can wield a soup can like a medieval broadsword and isn’t afraid to use it. I watched him scare the crap out of a janitor earlier because he was whistling suspiciously.”
Despite the tension curling tighter in my chest, I let out a brief huff of something that almost passed for a laugh. “Yeah, well, I’d take more comfort in that if it wasn’t Gabby’s life still on the line.”
Eddie paused for a moment, then said quietly, “She’s safe, Webb. I’m here, and if Barris tries something, he’s not leaving with all his teeth.”
I knew I could trust him, but being forewarned was a gift. “Watch the press conference and get to know the players. If he shows up—anywhere, even near the perimeter—I want to know. Instantly.”
“Copy that.”
I hung up and turned back toward the controlled chaos unfolding in the living room. The TV still blared in the background, now showing Gladys surrounded by a swarm of law enforcement and reporters. She was still talking, still commanding the room with her unshakable presence. Meanwhile, Malcolm, Benny, Remy, and Matty worked in a flurry, firing off data packets and evidence to her email like they were loading artillery—each file a carefully aimed shot in a war of truth.