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Back Vortex Save as PDF
Chapters (61)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. 1
  4. 2
  5. 3
  6. 4
  7. 5
  8. 6
  9. 7
  10. 8
  11. 9
  12. 10
  13. 11
  14. 12
  15. 13
  16. 14
  17. 15
  18. 16
  19. 17
  20. 18
  21. 19
  22. 20
  23. 21
  24. 22
  25. 23
  26. 24
  27. 25
  28. 26
  29. 27
  30. 28
  31. 29
  32. 30
  33. 31
  34. 32
  35. 33
  36. 34
  37. 35
  38. 36
  39. 37
  40. 38
  41. 39
  42. 40
  43. 41
  44. 42
  45. 43
  46. 44
  47. 45
  48. 46
  49. 47
  50. 48
  51. 49
  52. 50
  53. 51
  54. 52
  55. 53
  56. Epilogue
  57. Epilogue
  58. Acknowledgments
  59. About the Author
  60. Also by Catherine Coulter
  61. About the Publisher

“Of course I do.” His face turned cold. “I will tell you again. It was an accident. Kent said I was responsible because he was trying to protect himself. You can’t prove otherwise.” He crossed his arms, gave them a full-bodied sneer. “The whole lot of you are vultures, each with your own agenda. Quite a thing to bring down a man only trying to serve this city, destroy a man who could buy and sell all of you, make or break your reputations. And you . . .” He stared at Mia. “You started this. Your whole purpose was to create some tacky rumors, turn them into a front-page investigation, and you picked me to go after.” He shook his head at her. “Pamela’s right. You’re a disgrace. You’re despicable.”

Alex paused, looked at each of them, as if memorizing faces. “When this is over, I will personally destroy all of you.”

He stepped away from the fireplace. “Let’s get this over with, Detective. I imagine the New York Police chief will have something to say.” He turned to Pamela. “Wait here. I’ll be back.”

Hoolihan said smoothly, “Actually, Ms. Barrett will be coming with us.”

Alex took a step back toward him. “There is no reason to force my fiancée into such an unpleasant situation. I don’t want her exposed to the violent scum you deal with.”

Hoolihan said, “Actually, there is every reason.”

53

Mia

Detective Hoolihan continued to Pamela, “And you, ma’am, you’ll be wanting to call your lawyer as well.”

Alex stepped forward, stopped when Hoolihan frowned at him. “What are you talking about? Why would Pamela need a lawyer?”

Hoolihan locked eyes with Pamela. “Because you, Ms. Barrett, hired a broker by the name of Reily Flint, of Boston, Massachusetts. We don’t know as yet how you knew to contact him, but the Boston PD is working with us. We will find out, never doubt that. The broker, Mr. Flint, in turn hired one of his best operators, known as Whistler. Whistler was instructed to run down Mia Briscoe last Wednesday night. He failed because a bystander stopped him.

“You hired Whistler again, through Mr. Flint, to murder Kent Harper this past Thursday night. He failed again because Agent Sherlock was there surveilling Mr. Harper’s house. After Whistler shot him two times in the back, she was able to get him help immediately.

“Of course, Whistler didn’t know who you are, knew you only as the principal, Ms. Barrett, for his protection and for yours, so he couldn’t roll on you.” He nodded to Sherlock.

She said, “A very committed FBI agent spent hours tracking the sedan Whistler drove the night he tried to run down Mia Briscoe. When she finally spotted Whistler’s sedan on a camera feed, she was able to follow it to the Wild Oaks Motel in Fort Lee.