Chapter 4

CLAYTON'S P.O.V

In my thirty-two years on earth, I have never felt the primal need to kill someone.

And I'm not talking about just a bullet to his head, the urge that gripped me this morning was so dark, so devilish, it whispered evil things into my ear, like how good it would feel if I ran Edgar over with my car, crushing his lazy bones.

He was the cloud dimming my star—Yvonne, the darkness that shadowed her light.

The folder in my hand felt heavier with each passing second. Edgar was in prison custody, Yvonne was with me in his building, probably confused as to why I had Edgar arrested.

I opened the file again, my jaw clenched in anger each time I read it. An anger that was fueling my need to make Edgar pay.

After I met with Thane some days ago, I began looking into Edgar Baxter, at first his reports were clean; too clean, it became suspicious, and as someone who used to be a tech geek, all it took was one search on the dark web for all his hideous secrets to come to light.

Secrets that were enough to put him behind bars for the rest of his pathetic life.

As the regional manager (a position he no longer occupies), Edgar had access to a large scale of the company finances, too large for his greed.

I found bank accounts tucked away in secret places. More than a dozen wire transfers labeled with strange descriptions like ‘Consulting’ ‘Adjustment F*e,’ ‘Courtesy.’ and more nonsense.

A little more digging showed me that they weren't fees of the company expenses; they were bribes, lots of them. Some from competitors. One from a mysterious person whose name had disappeared from every public record. Others were tied to fake charities and money laundering.

Edgar had been stealing my money for years. And just when I thought things couldn't get any worse, I found the part that made my head hot with rage. Documents in an encrypted folder I broke into.

It was a scanned copy of a voice recording transcript. A conversation between Edgar and the same mysterious man who identified as “R.”

I had read the exchange so many times I knew every line by heart; I opened the folder again, a vein in my neck pulsing.

•••

EDGAR: We need to take as much as I can now; the heir to the company will be returning in a few weeks.

R: I know about him, I have things sorted out, but what about your wife? What happens to her when we leave Seattle?

EDGAR: I still have the evidence on her father. I can make her do anything I want, and she'll obey.

R: You mean she'll do anything WE want? I've had a fascination with your wife; once we leave Seattle, I'll make her do anything I want to.

EDGAR: I can share.

•••

Disgust and anger curled in my gut, tainting my vision with dots of red and black, like I said, I've never had the urge to kill someone, but Edgar? I'd do it with a fucking smirk on my face.

I had waited; I'd been planning to expose him and save Yvonne from the terrible fate that awaited her in the hands of her worthless husband and this ‘R,’ but when I walked in on him raising his voice at her, it was like a blow to my gut. I lost it and called the cops.

I leaned back into my leather chair, running my thumb over my jaw.

Yvonne saved me years back, she was my star. I reached into my pocket and brushed the cold metal there, the one I'd kept for seventeen years, it was a reminder that there was beauty and love in the world, and I was going to show her that again.

I placed the folder back in my cabinet and pushed it off my desk. It was time to pay Edgar a visit in prison

~~

The interview room smelled of cold steel that hadn't seen sunlight and stale air. Gray concrete walls were illuminated only by a dull light overhead. A long metal table sat at the center, bolted to the ground, with two chairs on opposite ends.

I tapped my finger on the table, two officers ushered him in, and the movement of my finger stopped. Every muscle in my body locked tight as he sat across from me.

“Mr Voss. What is this?” Edgar asked in a voice that showed something close to desperation.

I didn't look at him, not yet; my finger resumed its rhythmic movement, and I could feel Edgar tense.

“Mr. Voss, I do not understand why you called an arrest on me; if somebody is sabotaging my name, I assure you I have been…”

“The evidence” I stated quietly without looking at him.

Edgar quieted before speaking “What evidence?”

That was how I met his eyes; he recoiled in his chair under my gaze. Being just freshly arrested, He still looked clean, save from his disheveled hair; I wondered what he'd look like in a month or ten years from now; the thought brought a sinister smile to my face.

Edgar gulped, beads of sweat lined his forehead. I leaned forward, looking him dead in the eyes.

“The evidence on Mr Young. What is it?”

He opened his mouth but I stopped him with a hand held up

“Do not even think about lying to me,” I warned. “I already know of how you've been stealing money from my company for years. You and R”

Edgar's eyes widened to the size of saucers, his forehead wrinkled, and his fingers shook in disbelief and fear. “H..How did you know?” Edgar asked in a low, frightened voice.

I almost laughed.

“The evidence” I repeated. I hated repeating my words, but unfortunately, I didn't have the crayons to spell it out for Edgar that his life depended on this moment forward.

His furrowed brow deepened, creating a ridge between his eyes “Is that what you're concerned about? The secret I have on Mr Young rather than the money I stole from you?” he asked with disbelief.

I regarded Edgar silently as the pieces fell into place in his head. Edgar was smart enough to pick up on my intentions. The way I stormed in when he was embarrassing Yvonne. My defensiveness towards her, my interest in what Edgar held against her.

“You’re interested in my wife?” He asked with a look of utter shock.

I tilted my head to the side, not even bothering to hide the fact that I wanted someone's wife.

It was wrong on all counts, but nothing had ever felt so right.

“Yes,” I voiced.

He drew his head back, his eyes flickering over me as if to check if I was still the same Clayton Voss.

I stood up from the chair, having had enough of his presence. There was something I needed to do urgently, and he was wasting my time.

I stared down at Edgar, his hands bound in a cuff, his tailored suit replaced with a faded orange jumpsuit

“You’re going to spend every day of your life in jail for stealing from me.”

I threatened him; the fear returned to his eyes, and his shoulders shook with his pathetic begging.

“Please, Mr Voss, I'll do anything. Anything at all you want, I...I will save up to repay you, I'll work for you my entire life, just please….”

I walked to a corner of the room, my back towards him. “Anything?”

He hesitated before giving me an enthusiastic “Yes.”

“Good. Because there's something I want that you have.”

From where I stood, I could feel his hope blossom. I wanted to laugh. Edgar might not go to jail, but I'll make damm sure he wished he had.

“Juts say it Mr Voss. Name it, and it is all yours.”

The corner of my lips lifted; I could almost see it: Yvonne smiling again.

“Yvonne,” I said. One word, one person. Everything.

“I want Yvonne. I want your wife.”