Fortune Favors The Bold

CHAPTER EIGHT: DEAL WITH THE DEVIL

Why did Alaya have the impression that she’d just made a deal with the devil himself? Why did that stranger have so much influence on her? She’d known him for what – three weeks maximum and he seemed to have a monumental effect on her.

Enough to make her shrink from her duties. Anyone knowing her prior to Adonis’s episode would be profoundly shocked by her lack of decorum. Hell, she was pissed with herself for being influenced by those perfect olive-green eyes.

However, there was no going back on her words. She blatantly ignored the salient fact that the victim’s wife was having an affair with the latter’s brother. In exchange, she was handed Victor Alexander on a silver platter the very next day.

“Mr. Alexander,” she pronounced the name succinctly as she entered the interrogation with a heavy file. To be honest, there was nothing concrete in the document folder, but she wasn’t about to spill her beans.

“Detective,” he acknowledged in the same tone and with a brisk nod. “To what do I owe this pleasure?”

“Well,” Alaya drawled silkily, staring at the well-built tuxedo clad male on front of her. He seemed well-dressed, not one minor glitch in his satirical appearance, but there was something peculiar about the way he held himself. Like he was squirming under his seat and was trying his best to hide it from her. So, she took her time to make him stew.

After a lengthy pause, she joined him at the table, flinging the thick file in front of him. “You are very difficult to get hold of, Mr. Alexander. Any particular reason for so much reluctance?”

The man leant forward with a menacing stance, his dark blue eyes glistening dangerously. “You do know that I manage an international conglomerate, right? I cannot free myself at the merest snap?”

“Right,” she acquiesced being deliberately obtuse, and opening the file. “So glad that you could finally free some time from your schedule,” she added sarcastically, knowing that if it hadn’t been for Adonis’s help, she would never have laid a hand on the famous man.

“Can we be done with it then?” he snapped nastily.

“Alright,” she replied unfazed. “Where were you in the seventeenth August, night of the murder?”

He sighed heavily, like he was dealing with a stupid child. “I’m sure you already know the answer to that question.”

“Humor me,” she said without blinking an eye. Dealing with bullies or intimidating person was her forte – she wasn’t one to be cowered by their antagonism.

“There was a family dinner party at the Xanadu estate, and we were all summoned,” he answered acridly, causing her eyebrows to shoot to her hairline at the unsavory comment.

“Summoned? As in forced?” she probed.

“Who likes the Fortune family drama? Personally, I hate those lengthy meals where everyone has to pretend to like each other when we’re all aware that it’s quite the contrary. I have been married for more than two decades now, and so much pretense starts to take a toll.”

Alaya nodded in understanding. Although she couldn’t fathom what the man was rambling about, she could figure out the typical scenario unfolding on front of her eyes. Having met the three Fortune sisters, she had a pretty good idea of how much of a force of character they were. She almost pitied the man.

“So, what happened during the dinner? Another dramatic episode?”

A rictus formed at the corner of his mouth, which was nothing pleasant. “You bet. Athena was furious that Adonis was going to be the CEO of the Seattle branch. That meant everything would be under his control. The finances and assets has to go through the main office before being dispatched to other branches.”

“You have four branches in the States, right?” she concluded, although she had the details of every semantics printed right before her eyes. It was a tactic to reap information from her interlocutor.

“Five if you count the small outlet in Nevada, mostly because of the numerous tourists. We also have one production branch in Italy and Turkey. We are planning on expanding in other European countries, and frankly I don’t see Adonis having the mettle for the rapid expansion I have in mind.”

“Why not?” she asked innocently, although she could already guess the answer. Adonis was more an artist than a businessman.

Victor grimaced. “Let’s say he lacks certain aptitudes,” he replied tactfully. “Anyway, when Athena’s daughter married a gold-digger, Mason was very careful to be the only one to have total control over everything. That’s why everything has to be sanctioned from the main office first. An unusual way of conducting progressive business if you ask my opinion.”

His disapproval was blatant, but it was clear that he was a diplomat through and through. He merely shrugged. “It’s not in my place to comment anyway.” His feigned nonchalance wasn’t fooling her one bit.

There it was the opening line she’d been waiting for. “That must be frustrating Mr. Alexander. You obviously strike me as a very innovative and ingenious man. Having your ideas suppressed must be a deep source of exasperation, isn’t it?” she deliberately poked the lion.

“Naturally, anyone in my place would be unpleased with his ideas being suppressed. Especially, when I’m pretty sure that it is the only way to innovate Fortune Jewelries and move forward. Neither Mason nor Adonis are willing to implement my ideas, so I just sit back and wait for them to fail.”

“Nothing will give you greater pleasure than the ‘I told you so’ lecture, right?” Alaya gloated in his place, although the man made her feel sick for some reason. He was over ambitious, on his toes like he was impatient to prove something to the world.

He beamed, seeming pleased that she was on the same wavelength as him, for the first time letting down his guard. That was the moment Alaya had been waiting for. Strike the iron while it’s hot.

“I agree with you. Maybe when they’re knocked down, you will be in a better position to be heard. But tell me, if you and Mason didn’t get along, would having him out of the way make things easier for you?”

His eyes darkened at the not-so-subtle accusation. “I never said that I didn’t get along with Mason,” he denied hotly.

“The employees that I interviewed seem to be of the opinion that you two fought a lot, even in office spaces.”

“Alright, maybe. We’re both creative geniuses. Or at least, he was. So? That doesn’t make me a murderer, does it?”

“No, it surely doesn’t,” Alaya retorted suavely with a plastered smile. “But it does give you a motive.”

He frowned unpleasantly. “Well, I’m afraid that having a motive is not enough to keep me here,” he went back to his hostile attitude. “I only came because I have nothing to hide, but I am not standing here to hear your unfounded accusations without protest.”

“Alright,” she raised her palm in open surrender. “I apologize. It was not my intention to accuse you, of course. It was pure speculations like you said. But I would be the first one glad to exonerate you from any further investigations. I understand that you’re a busy man. So, Mr. Alexander, once you confirm where you were between one and three a.m. on that night, I would gladly wipe your name from the suspects’ list.”

With an abrupt movement, he stood up knocking down his chair with his brusque action. “I refuse to allow myself to be insulted that way. Anything that I have to say will be via my lawyer.”

Alaya’s eyebrows raised in speculation as she stared at the fuming man in front of her. She hadn’t done anything out of her jurisdiction, and by experience if anyone reacted so defensively, it surely meant that he had something to hide.

Threatening her with a lawyer meant that she wasn’t about to get another clue from the infamous Mr. Alexander, so she forced a huge smile on her lips with great effort. “I’m so sorry Mr. Alexander. I would like to offer my sincere thanks for your cooperation. Let me escort you back to the exit,” she offered politely, but a quick glance towards Captain Gibbs confirmed her hunch.

They finally had one suspect – Mr. Victor Alexander. As soon as he was out of earshot, adrenaline surged inside her at the prospect of a new trail. The third Fortune son-in-law hailed from Vancouver, and therefore a trip to his hometown was due.

“Petrov!” a voice sounded from behind her while she made a grab for her coat. Her first instinct was to contact Adonis to keep him updated with the latest results, and in her haste, she’d forgotten about her Captain.

“Cap,” she smiled brightly, realizing her mistake, and feeling contrite about her faux pas. “I was about to pay you a visit in your office,” she rectified folding her coat in front of her in an attempt to hide the obvious fact that she was going out.

“Going somewhere?” the Captain commented sharply, eyes focused on the folded garment in front of her.

“I was thinking about a trip to Vancouver. I think that it’s worth pursuing the trail of Victor Alexander. He’s refusing to corporate and seems fishy to me.”

The Captain nodded. “I followed the interrogation. It seems that you were right to trust your instincts. We finally have something on this case, so we need to sink our teeth right in. Good job, Petrov!”

Surprised that the captain had gone out of his way to praise her, Alaya flushed with pleasure. “Thank you Cap. I’ll keep you in the loop as soon as I have more information,” she replied with a more sincere smile, unwrapping her coat to wear it.

“Petrov, this is a high-profile case which is very sensitive and delicate to handle. So far, you seem to have done a great job with handling the Fortunes as well as keeping the F.B.I from sniffing around. It seems that I was right in trusting you.”

Alaya beamed at her senior in charge, and almost escaped from the room as the stifling emotion of guilt gripped her. Contrary to what she’d been thinking, he hadn’t assigned her the case to sign her up for failure like she’d initially believed. Instead, he seemed to have out all his faith in her. She felt ashamed of having doubted his intentions and was determined to make this right. She wasn’t so objective as Captain Gibbs believed her to be.

All her preference was inclined towards Adonis, and that would surely affect the case in one way or another. The motivational speech from her superior changed her mind – she wasn’t going to run to Adonis to share the latest information. It would be unprofessional.

It would be a long and lonely trip to Vancouver, but she hoped fervently that she might cracked the case sooner rather than later.