Page 120 of Broken Wheels

She barked a laugh. “You think I’m dumb enough to hand you my only bargaining chip? This is just a sample so you know I’m telling the truth. Once I get some assurances—in writing—then we can talk about the rest.” Kathy looked him in the eye. “And there’s a lot of it.” She swallowed. “I had no idea he was doing something so… heinous,” she muttered.

Dix raised his eyebrows. “And yet you’ve worked for him at least eight years. Are you telling us that in all that time, you never had an inkling of what he was doing?”

She pressed her lips together for a second or two before replying. “He kept all that stuff separate. I was his assistant for his business enterprises, not for anything unrelated.”

Dix leaned back. “And what makes you think he’s after you?”

She dabbed at her puffy eyes with another tissue. “There’s a group that worked for him. He called them his board. He had me set up meetings with them. It wasn’t anything outside of my duties, so I had no issue doing it.”

Chalmers picked up a pen and pulled a notepad toward him. “How many people are on the board? What are their names?”

“There are—were—five of them.”

Dix stilled. “Were?”

She nodded. “Nicole Lawrence, Rami Vitra, Ernest Macklin, Tod Nowak, and Dexter Lewis. Spencer said he had some decisions to make, and I offered to contact the board, but he said they were no longer part of the company. That made no sense whatsoever. A few of them were with him before I started.”

Dix peered at the drone. “Dr. Malone? Mr. Cross? Are you getting all this?”

Doc growled. “Please tell me you’re not buying this crap.”

“Nope,” Michael said.

“Not a chance,” Chalmers echoed.

“Oh, hell no,” Dix said with a laugh.

Kathy froze. “What? What do you mean?”

Yeah, the kid gloves were definitely off.

Dix slammed a hand on the table. “You’re fucking lying, that’s what I mean. Not one person sitting at this table, listening in from another room, or employed here would be stupid enough to buy this… this bullshit you’re peddling.”

She stared at him. “I had no idea, I swear it. When I found out he was involved in these monstrous attacks, I got so upset, I threw up.” Kathy swallowed. “I’m afraid he’s going to come after me too.”

Dix wasn’t buying it for a second.

“No one could be that fucking clueless. You just happened to find out he was involved after all the years of working for him?” He held his hands up. “Now, we won’t say it’s not possible, but from my perspective, the tale you’re telling has holes big enough to drive through.” Dix cleared his throat. “So, unless you want to tell us why you’re here, our business is concluded. The men at the door will see you out.” He got up and headed for the door.

“Wait!” she yelled.

Dix schooled his satisfied grin and turned back.

Kathy counted off on her fingers. “He killed the men he sent after Malone. He killed the board, who supported him this entire time. It’s not too much of a stretch to think my neck would be on the block too, is it? And like I said, going to the FBI was out of the question.” She glared at Dix. “So what if he killed a lot of people? I didn’t have a problem with that.” She grimaced. “People suck.” Then she swallowed. “But all those kids who were in that school? That was a step too far.”

Chalmers blinked. “So you’re fine with him killing people, but not kids?”

“Kids at least have a chance not to suck, but he took that from them.”

Michael folded his arms. “How do we know we can trust anything you have to say?”

She gave a bitter chuckle. “You don’t know.” Her expression was tainted with smugness. “I won’t lie. You shouldn’t trust a single thing that comes out of my mouth.”

Okay, Dix hadn’t been expecting that.

Kathy leaned forward, her eyes bright. “But if you want to keep Malone away from a boomshot to the back of the head, I’d tread very carefully.”

Gary’s voice came out of the speakers. “You know what? I’ve heard enough.”

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