Page 29 of Secrets

“They want what you have,” said Nathan.

His head jerked up, and he shook it, ever-so-slightly from side to side.

“Don’t,” he whispered.

“There’s nothing to worry about,” said Miller. “They can’t hear or see us. We’ve taken care of that.”

“You can’t be sure of that. There are bugs everywhere, cameras everywhere,” said Jay.

“Jay, we assure you that no one can hear or see us. If you have something to say, please do so,” said Miller.

“I need to know that Millicent is safe. So help me, if you’ve harmed her, I’ll come back and kill you myself.” Miller stared at him, then at Nathan.

“Hey, guys. Everything so far has been the truth. Something isn’t right there.”

“Let’s start over,” said Miller. “My name is Miller Robicheaux. Kari is my wife. This is Nathan Redhawk, and Katrina is his wife. They are both attorneys.”

“And you guys?”

“We may be your best friends by the time we leave this prison.” Jay shook his head from side to side.

“I’ve never had many friends, Mr. Robicheaux. I don’t expect that at this point in my life I’ll have any now.”

“If you’ll forgive me, Mr. Fraser,” said Katrina.

“Jay. Just call me Jay.”

“Alright, Jay. If you’ll forgive me, Millicent said that you were cruel to her as a child.”

“I was,” he nodded. “I had to be. If Dad saw anything as a weakness, he used it against you. Millicent would have been my weakness. So, to keep Dad from hitting her, I would. I tried to hold back but sometimes he could see. Tick, he adored Millicent, but he was also a bit touched in the head.” He stared at the group, and then all leaned back in their chairs.

“Did he touch that girl?” growled Miller.

“No. No, absolutely not,” said Jay. “I made sure of it by making him afraid of me, as well as Millicent. I watched him like a damn hawk. Dad knew that he wanted Millicent, and he used that against him to get him to do what he wanted. He kept telling him that if he would help with the Dyatlovs, he could have Millicent, not them.”

“He was going to give his daughter to his son?” frowned Katrina.

“There was no end to his cruelty and sickness,” said Jay. “Mom, Beatrix Fraser Dyatlov, made him that way.”

“Your mother? The one he murdered?” said Kari.

“Wow, I guess I really need to back up. You’re sure we’re not being recorded?” he asked.

“We are not.”

“Our mother is still alive. She is not dead.”

“Agent Fowler said…” started Kari.

“Don’t believe a damn word that man says. He’s in bed with all of them. He knows about the money, he knows about Millicent having the account number, all of it.”

“So, you knew those were account numbers?” asked Miller.

“Who do you think did that? I did. Dad ordered me to put the money in a safe place, so I came up with the idea of crypto. I knew it was above his head, and it wouldn’t be accessible to Mom. They were pissed at first, then came around to the idea because we were making such a profit on it.”

“But why be cruel to Millicent? Why not help her get away?” asked Kari.

“Like I said, Dad watched her like a hawk, and when he wasn’t watching, Mom had her fucking guards watching. When they weren’t watching her, it was Tick or one of the men we were working for. I fully admit I was good at what I did, ma’ams, sirs. But those men deserved to die. They were predators, traffickers, dealers. There were a few that just owed money, but not many.”

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