Chapter 705
Chapter 705:
Twenty minutes later, the scene outside had descended into controlled chaos.
The night air outside the Hayes Estate was not silent. It vibrated with the strobing red and blue lights that sliced through the darkness, painting the gothic stone walls in alternating shades of blood and bruise.
I stood behind the police barricade, my arms wrapped tightly around my chest. The cold wasn’t just in the air; it was seeping up through the soles of my boots, settling deep in my marrow.
Beside me, Liam was a statue carved from granite. He hadn’t blinked in minutes. His jaw was set so hard I could see the muscle ticking rhythmically beneath the skin, a physical manifestation of the tension radiating off him in waves.
“They’re bringing them out,” Alistair said, his voice low and devoid of satisfaction. He stood a few feet away, his back to the wind, watching the chaos with the detached scrutiny of a general assessing a battlefield.
The heavy oak doors of the estate burst open.
Chief Liu marched out first, his face grim. Behind him, a phalanx of SWAT officers escorted, or rather dragged, two figures.
Parker Hayes looked like a child wearing a man’s clothes. His hoodie was torn at the shoulder, revealing pale skin underneath. His hands were cuffed behind his back, forcing his shoulders into an awkward, painful hunch. His eyes were wide, darting frantically around the crowd of officers and media that had materialized out of nowhere.
“Liam!” Parker’s voice cracked, a desperate, high-pitched sound that cut through the low rumble of idling engines. He spotted us near the tape. He lunged forward, stumbling, but the officer gripping his arm jerked him back with practiced indifference. “Liam, tell them! I didn’t do anything! It was Dad! It was the diary p>
Liam didn’t move. He didn’t step forward. He didn’t shout back. He just watched, his eyes cold and unreadable.
A pang of sympathy twisted in my gut. Parker was annoying, yes. But looking at him now, shivering and terrified, he looked harmless. He looked like collateral damage.
Then came Victoria.
Th𝗶𝘴 ѕ𝗍orу 𝗯el𝗼𝗇𝘨𝗌 𝘁о 𝘣e𝘭ոo𝗏e𝗅𝗌.c𝗼𝗆
She wasn’t walking; she was performing. Even in handcuffs, with her mascara running in dark, jagged rivers down her cheeks, Victoria Hayes was trying to control the narrative. She thrashed against the female officer holding her, tossing her hair back.
“Get your hands off me!” she shrieked, her voice shrill and grating. “I am a victim here! My father is the criminal! I didn’t know anything! Ask Parker! He’s the one with the gambling problem! He’s the one who hangs out in that disgusting arcade p>
Parker stared at his sister, betrayal washing over his face. “Vic? What are you saying p>
“Shut up, Parker!” Victoria yelled, her eyes wild. “You dragged me into this! Officer, he knows the Syndicate people! He talks to them p>
I flinched. Victoria was throwing her own brother into the fire to keep her designer coat from getting singed.
“Where is Mr. Hayes?” I asked, my voice barely a whisper.
“Gone,” Liam said. The single word fell like a stone. “The tunnels. He knew the layout better than we did. He left his children to take the fall p>
I looked at Liam. “We have to help Parker. He helped us p>
“I know,” Liam said. He finally turned his head, looking down at me. His eyes were dark pools, devoid of the warmth I had seen in the cave on the island. “Stay here p>