Chapter 12 - Glass and Steel Barbed Wire
The visitor room at the San Mateo County Detention Facility was dark, cold, and smelled faintly of industrial disinfectant. Nathan sat on one side of the thick plexiglass partition, his hands folded calmly on the stainless steel counter.
The heavy metal door opened, and Audrey was led in by a female guard.
The transformation was shocking. The flawless bride who had strutted down the aisle in a ten-thousand-dollar gown forty-eight hours ago was gone. In her place sat a woman in a oversized orange jumpsuit, her hair pulled back into a messy ponytail, dark circles under her unmakeup-ed eyes.
She sat down slowly, picking up the plastic phone receiver with trembling hands. Nathan picked up his on the other side.
'You came,' Audrey whispered, her voice raspy.
'Sophia said you had something to say,' Nathan said, his tone neutral, devoid of anger or empathy.
Audrey pressed her hand against the glass, tears brimming in her eyes. 'Nathan... I know you hate me. You have every right to hate me. But you have to believe me... I did love you. At first, I really did.'
'Save the theater for the jury, Audrey,' Nathan said coldly. 'You slept with my father. You tried to sell my life's work to Charles Vance. What do you want?'
Audrey flinched as if struck. She swallowed hard, wiping her nose with her sleeve. 'My father... he promised me everything. He said you were arrogant, that your company was built on stolen government patents. He convinced me that taking Apex down was justice. But when I found out Robert was broke, my father forced me to sleep with him to keep Robert compliant.'
Nathan raised an eyebrow. 'Are you trying to claim you were coerced?'
'I was greedy!' Audrey sobbed, her voice cracking through the receiver. 'I was greedy and stupid! But Charles is going to kill me, Nathan! He sent a lawyer today who basically told me that if I mention his name in court, my mother’s medical trust in Florida gets revoked!'
Nathan leaned closer to the glass. 'Give me the master decryption keys for Charles’s offshore accounts. Give me the hard evidence that ties him to the Apex corporate theft.'
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Audrey stared at him, her chest heaving. 'If I give you that... will you help my mother? Will you protect her from Charles?'
Nathan looked into her desperate eyes. 'I don't make promises to traitors, Audrey. But I destroy monsters. Give me the keys, and your father will never hurt anyone again.'
