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Fiona was in shock. She couldn’t believe it was happening, or how they’d even keyed in on her at all.
“You can’t be serious! I want my lawyer!” she screamed.
“You have the right to representation, but you’re still coming with us,” Brokaw said. “Special Agents Leroy and Patterson will escort you to our office.”
Fiona was still sputtering and screaming as they hauled her out of the building. Brokaw dismissed the employees with instructions not to return until further notice.
It was to be expected that her walk of shame was captured on cell phones and posted all over social media before the feds even got her out of the building.
At the same time she was being taken in for questioning, a separate team was at the Outen estate. The housekeeper and the chef were also sent home, while the team began going through every room in the mansion and every outbuilding on the property, shocking the elite neighborhood with the presence of federal officers.
PI Jack Fielding had followed Fiona from the Outen estate to her office this morning and was in the parking lot in front of the building with an eye on her car and in full view of the entrance when he saw a parade of black SUVs and vans come wheeling up to the front of the building.
He grabbed his camera.
“Oh man, Wolf. You just set her world on fire, didn’t you?” Jack muttered, recording dozens of agents piling out of the vehicles with their equipment. He had a front-row seat and couldn’t wait to see what happened next, and it didn’t take long.
He began filming again when agents emerged, this time with Fiona between them. They put her in the back seat of an SUV, flanked by two other agents. From what he could see, she was not in full cooperation with their decisions, and like before, he captured it all in living color.
The media had little warning about the scheduled news conference, and the different outlets were scrambling to get into place as Colin Ramsey appeared outside the FBI office in Miramar.
“Good morning, and thank you for coming at short notice. I’m Special Agent Colin Ramsey, lead investigatorof the helicopter crash in Jubilee, Kentucky, and the deaths of two passengers onboard. As has been reported by the media countless times in the past few days, the chopper exploded in midair, which has led to rumors of a bomb. I won’t comment on an ongoing case, other than to say we’re still in an active investigation. Also, rumors have circulated from the beginning that Wolfgang Outen and Zander Sutton were the victims of the crash. We now have proof that Mr. Outen was not on that chopper, and that it was his personal assistant, Stuart Bien. Wolfgang Outen is alive. I have seen and spoken to him personally. He will make a statement in his own time, but for now, he is staying secluded in fear of a second attack on his life. He is devastated at the loss of Stuart Bien, who was a personal friend as well as an employee, and sends his deepest sympathies to Stuart’s friends and family, as well as to the family of Zander Sutton.”
The place erupted in shouts of disbelief and hands waving in the air to be recognized for questions.
Colin raised a hand to signify silence. “I’m sorry. I won’t be taking questions about an ongoing case, but I am issuing a warning. Anything you might try to do to hunt Wolf Outen down just to get a scoop before it’s safe to reveal his location will very likely get you in deep trouble for impeding a federal investigation and endangering a man’s life. Do I make myself clear?” That caveat shut down the noise. “Thank you for coming,” Colin said, and walked back into the building.
The media outlets had been live during the pressconference, and shock was spreading, both on Wall Street and in the business community at large.
Dead billionaires rarely reappeared by magic, but the boost to the shares in the companies he owned had just shot through the roof.
Carter Bullock was in the bathroom shaving when he heard a scream, and then Leigh shouting.
He turned off the water and then shouted down the hall, “What the hell’s happening? Are you all right?”
She came up the stairs as fast as her aging legs would carry her—her eyes wide. Her voice shaking. “He’s not dead! He’s not dead!”
Carter frowned. “Who’s not dead?”
“Wolf, and I have a bad feeling about this,” Leigh said.
“Ridiculous,” Carter snapped. “We haven’t seen him since the funeral. He is not a part of our world.”
“No. We’re not a part of his,” Leigh said. “He could buy and sell us a million times over. I don’t know how to explain it, but this feels like someone took the lid off Pandora’s box, and we’re in the direct line of fire.”
Carter glared.
“You never listen to me! Be forewarned! That’s just you and your fucking conscience again. I don’t want to hear another thing about this. Do you understand?”
He stomped back in the bathroom to finish shaving and slammed the door.
Sean was in the living room watching television when he heard the announcement about the impending conference. He jumped up and hurried to the bedroom where Amalie was getting dressed.
“Amalie! Honey! There’s something about the crash on TV,” he said, and grabbed the remote to turn it on.
She came out of the bathroom with the hairbrush still in her hand and sat down at the foot of the bed with Sean beside her.
“Did they say what it would be about?” she asked.
