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“And you believed them?” Davenport asked.
“They were very compelling.” Grayson shook his head as though he were chiding his former self. “It was one of the most intense meetings I’ve ever had, even to this day. They would show me one of their clients, then show me how they had tracked their success over time. Most companies would be ecstatic to see their numbers rise like that. It was exponential. And they’d done this thousands of times.”
“So, you said yes?”
“Not at first. I thought I was a hotshot. Didn’t need anyone else.” He laughed, but it was the kind of laugh that came with age and perspective. “I already had a publicist at the time. She was great, nothing to complain about. But after that meeting, everything started to fall apart.”
“How so?”
“One day, my publicist quit. Out of the blue, just like that. She was an old friend, too. I’d told her so many times I was gonna take her to the top with me. When I asked her why, she said she’d gotten a better offer. One she couldn’t refuse.”
Davenport snickered. “What? From the mob?”
He looked to Mannis, waiting for the joke to land, but it never did.
“I have no idea who the offer was from,” Grayson said, “but I have a good guess.”
“Apex,” Mannis offered. Grayson nodded. “What happened after she left?”
“I fell into obscurity. Couldn’t get air time. Couldn’t get interviews. No one was listening to me, let alone voting for me. I was a nobody. Then Apex approached me again.”
“With the same offer?”
“A better one. They asked me what I wanted. I told them the presidency. They said sign here, and I did. The rest is history.”
“Not for us.” Mannis shrugged. “You’re gonna have to fill in some blanks.”
Davenport held out a hand. “I’d like to get back to the murder. Stop dodging our questions—”
“I’m not dodging.” Grayson ran a hand through his hair. He was falling apart at the seams. “I’m trying to explain to you how dangerous Apex can be. They treat people like chess pieces, except they control both sides of the board. Every time they remove someone from play, they replace them with someone better. They never lose.”
Mannis’ voice was much more even than Davenport’s. “What does this have to do with Connor?”
“My son was a pain in the ass, okay? I’ll be the first one to admit it. But I would never hurt him. I was ready to ride out whatever little rebellions he threw my way. I figured, worst-case scenario, I send him to a school across the country, and we’re out of each other’s hair. Best of both worlds.”
“Sending evidence of your criminal activities to every major news outlet and the FBI is not a little rebellion,” Davenport said. “You’re trying to tell me you would’ve just let that slide?”
“I’m not sure what I would’ve done.” Grayson gulped down more water until he had drained the bottle. “Deny it. Try to cover it up. Find a way to stay out of jail. But I never would’ve killed him. That was all Apex, I know it was.”
“Do you have any proof?” Davenport asked.
“No.” Grayson tilted his head back and laughed. “No way. They’re smarter than that.”
“Then how do you expect us to believe you?” The detective punctuated his words with the tip of his finger pointed at Grayson. “How do you expect a court to believe you?”
“That’s your job, isn’t it? Making sure the innocent stay out of jail and the guilty are put away?”
“You are guilty.”
“Of insider trading. Of stealing money.” Grayson threw up his hands. “Not of murdering my own son!”
“Okay, okay, let’s calm down for a minute.” Mannis put a hand on the detective’s shoulder until Davenport leaned back in his chair. “You must have some reason to suspect Apex did this. Can you give us anything to go off of? If not, then I have to be honest with you, Senator, it’s not looking good.”
“You said you talked to my son’s girlfriend, right?”
“Agent Viotto spoke to her, yes.”
“She broke up with my son a few days ago, right? That’s what she told you?”
