Chapter 59
Gatsby
I stood on my dock,the early fall breeze penetrating my suit jacket, causing a light shiver that I fought against as I stared across the lake. He was having another party.
I knew what he was doing. His staff wasn’t as loyal as he thought them to be. They'd told me about his intimate parties. Almost every other day. It was exhausting them, having to clean up during the day and turn around and work all night as well.
They told me everything I wanted to know about his guests, their conversations, and Max himself, his comings and goings, but whenever I asked about Daisy, they didn't have much to say. And when I inquired about Lydia, they completely clammed up.
It was odd.
What were they hiding?
Once I was too cold to be comfortable, I left the dock and went inside and up to my office. I was going to call the private investigator I'd hired to see if there was anything new to report.
Dewayne came into the room, and I looked up from mycomputer screen. "Sir, Stephanie Carter came by to relay some information."
"Came by?"
Stephanie was one of Max Stanton's housekeepers. Whenever she had something to tell us, she called. She never came by.
He nodded, entered the room, and shut the door behind him. He sat in the chair in front of my desk, leaning forward and clutching his hands. "She was distraught. Crying, shaking, having trouble articulating what had happened."
I stood quickly.
"What happened? Is Daisy okay? What about Lydia?" I wasn't entirely sure why I was concerned for the little girl, but I loved Daisy, and if Daisy had a child, then I would have to love it as well.
"Daisy is fine. It's Max and his friends. They're sick." Dewayne went on to tell me about the Champagne Circle being caught in the knick of time before they assaulted a group of children. With each detail he gave, the more red I saw. I squeezed my fists and paced, my entire body shaking with rage and revulsion.
"They're fucking dead," I said when he finished his story.
Dewayne stood. "How do you want to proceed?"
I went to my desk and began ripping papers from a folder I'd been studying. I laid out the images of each member of the circle.
"Let's have them over for dinner."
"Thank you, thank you all. It's truly been an honor to perform at the same opera house that my parents met and fell in love. I never thought this could happen, so it's truly a dream come true," Daisy told the news reporter holding the microphone in front of her. She looked so beautiful, in her full costume with hair and makeup. I'd seen the show tonight and was blown away by the beauty and grace of the full production.
I'd wanted to speak to her at the Theater, but Max was there as well. He'd had a dozen red roses delivered to her room, so I sent a hundred black ones. She was holding a bouquet of the black ones as she did her interview for the news.
"Daisy, is there anything you want to say to your fans?" a woman asked. Daisy blinked and considered her words for a moment before nodding.
"Yes. My dream was a green light, always close but out of reach. I stretched and fought and chased that light, until finally, tonight, I was able to capture it. People out there, watching, paying attention, looking for guidance, fight for your green light."
I clicked pause on the video, and rewound it to listen to her say it again. She wasn't talking to her fans. She was talking to me.
Fight for your green light.
I stood. These last two weeks had been eventful to say the least. In the span of fourteen days, Dean, Nathen, and Yong had each been the guest of honor at their own dinners. It was risky, picking people who lived in the area back to back, that also had a lot of power and wealth. People were going to look for these men, but I was too angry to care.
They deserved to fucking die for every person they'd hurt, or would have gone on to hurt. I was saving morepeople than anyone could ever truly know. The only one left was... Max.
I'd wanted him to be last, because I needed him to know I was coming for him. And he did, indeed, know. Stephanie, his housekeeper, had told us that he was losing it at home. Good.
So long as he kept his hands off Daisy, let him stew in what was coming.
Dewayne came in to confirm that things had been taken care of with Yong Ji Hoon, my latest dinner guest.
