Page 54 of Don't Hate Me
I swallowed as tears threatened. But then I pushed them back. I needed to be stronger than this. I would be stronger than this if it meant saving Marc.
“I’m going to get married.”
* * *
Benfield Estate
Long Island
Marc
“Take the deal.”
I stared at Entwhistle after he’d laid out the evidence in front of me. It was all there. My account at the hedge fund. The withdrawal of two thousand dollars. The purchase of two plane tickets. The hotel bill. All of it.
“I earned that money.”
Benfield, who was sitting on another sofa in his living room, nodded. “You did, and quite impressively. When all of this is behind you, I might consider hiring you myself. I’m less squeamish about people with criminal records.”
Criminal record. I was going to have a criminal record for life.
IfI took the deal Entwhistle suggested. He basically confirmed what the prosecution knew, which was the only money they could prove in a court of law I took, was the two thousand dollars. The records of my account showed a twenty-million-dollar deposit and a twenty-million-dollar withdrawal, but the money itself was never substantiated. Where it came from, where it went. Just a stupid line item in the account record.
A flimsy frame-up. One that coincided with me legitimately withdrawing two thousand dollars in an effort to save Ash. Which I failed to do. George told me when I talked to him yesterday.
Ash was getting married in two weeks, on Saturday.
“Take the deal, Campbell,” Entwhistle repeated. “We’re talking fifteen months in minimum security, most likely out in twelve with good behavior. I’m not saying it’s a cake walk, but it’s the best deal we’re going to get. It takes the unpredictability of a trial off the table. People hear twenty million dollars, and it doesn’t matter if we explain they can’t prove you took it, people will think you did it anyway.”
I looked at Benfield. “I do this, and that delays me from getting the evidence you want on Landen.”
He nodded once. “It does. But it also gives you plenty of time to come up with a plan on how you’re going to do it. A plan you’ll be motivated to execute as soon as you get out.”
“It’s not just Landen. It’s Sanderson, too,” I pointed out. “I’m bringing them both down.”
And somehow, somehow, I was going to save Ash, in the process.
“That’s fine,” Benfield said, taking a sip of the aged Scotch he’d poured for both of us. “Sanderson is the puppet master. Take him down, you take his puppet with him. He likes to pretend he’s a dangerous and powerful man. But he’s a man with secrets and secrets are always vulnerabilities.”
“What secrets?” I asked. Other than he was a psychopath. I already knew that one.
Benfield shook his head. “Not sure. There’s just talk around town that something is not right about him. However, given his money, his family background, no one looks too closely. It makes sense why he chose Landen’s daughter to marry.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because she’s got an air of innocence about her. Purity. He’s using that to try to clean himself up. Will it work? Maybe in the short term.”
I had to force the words out.
“Are you going to the wedding?”
It was purported to be a major New York society event. Everyone who worked in high finance had received invitations. Benfield’s had come yesterday. Ash was getting married again in two weeks.
“To watch a young woman sacrifice herself for love? Of course, I’m going. It’s all very dramatic. You go to jail, she gets married. But how is it going to end?”
I looked back to Entwhistle. “That soon? Jail, I mean. Doesn’t this stuff take months to sort out?”
He shook his head. “Only if we drag it out, and there’s no point in waiting. We tell the prosecutors we’re taking the deal. They’ll schedule the court date, which, in all likelihood, will happen in the next week or two. I’ve already put together the list of prison recommendations. Then we’ll offer to surrender to custody as soon as possible.”
