Dead Presidents (An Aria Raymond Thriller Book 3) by Thomas Ransom (that summer book txt) 📕

a connection between Coon’s murder and Whitney’s murder, he would be able to reopen Coon’s case. This would be super helpful as we can go through all the investigations and evidence to see what was missed. It might point us toward the right direction.”

Aria nodded, but still didn’t say anything.

“So… what do you think? Trust me, it will help a lot because frankly, I got nothing right now. Don’t worry. It won’t affect the lawsuit we are filing on your behalf.”

“Yeah. I know. I know.” Aria replied. She took a deep breath, “I am honestly not a fan of Jake, but if he admits his mistakes and wants to help… and, if that would actually help you with the case then of course, you should go ahead. Nicole, seriously, you don’t need to run things past me like this.”

“We are partners…”

“Yes. I know you would do the right thing. So, you should make the decisions. I will manage the financial side of things.”

“Great! So, you are fine, right?”

Aria chuckled, “Yes, I am.”

“Great. I am going to set another meeting with Jake then. I am sure once we dig deeper into both Coons and Whitney’s cases, we will get somewhere.”

Wayne was completely out of it. He was sitting in the conference room, and there was a meeting currently happening. He, however, was somewhere far away. The meeting was among the board members and since Wayne had replaced Whitney at work, he had to fill in these meetings. Initially, it was all rather thrilling… to be a part of the higher ups and to know what was happening in the company, learning about the decisions before they were made, and even chipping in his two cents in front of the board members. There was this nagging feeling at the back of his mind after Whitney was murdered, but he wasn’t able to shut it off completely. He thought it would be good for his career, and in a way, it was. Until he started realizing there was something not right. Something wasn’t right and he knew most, if not all, board members were in on it.

After what happened with Aria and Whitney, he knew enough to keep his mouth shut and avoid asking questions. He also pretended to play dumb if there was nothing being discussed he should know about. This was hopefully the best way to keep low radar and save his life. However, there was still something in him that kept telling him to do something about this whole situation. Wayne realized that there could be more innocent lives in danger if no one stopped these people. But how? That was the question. At this point, he had no idea who he could trust. One wrong move and he would probably have to pay with his life. He was contemplating talking to Aria and Tanya about this. Maybe their lawyer. They knew more than him and between all of them; they might be able to figure something out.

However, he had been following Aria’s trial and knew that they were barely able to get her out from prison. If it wasn’t for the confession, Aria would still be in there. That showed they didn’t have substantial evidence against these people. Neither did he. Wayne thought he would sneak in his phone into the conference room once and record the entire meeting. That didn’t go to well. One of the board members somehow noticed the small bulge in his coat pocket and Wayne had to pretend that he forgot he had his phone on him. These meetings were a strict no-phone zone. It was so the meeting doesn’t get disturbed by anyone’s phone ringing, but Wayne suspected it was probably to prevent anyone from recording and passing on any information.

He never attempted anything like that again.

Someone nudged him and he sat up straighter, alarmed. He realized everyone was looking at him. “Umm…” unsure what to say, Wayne stammered.

“Earth to Wayne. Earth to Wayne,” said one of the board members, named Frank. Others chuckled all around him.

“I… I am sorry. I think I … just zoned out or something,” apologized Wayne.

“What’s the point of you sitting here then, kid?” another one chipped in. Wayne could hear the irritation in his voice.

“Sorry. I am … really sorry. It won’t happen again,” answered Wayne, sitting up even straighter than before.

“No point now. The meeting is over, but since you probably missed most of it, best you skip the next one too,” one of the board members spat.

Frank chuckled, “Now, now Bob. Give him a break. He is probably under pressure with all this responsibility. Bound to slip up a little.”

“Better not slip too much.”

There was a murmur of agreement.

“It won’t happen again. I do apologize,” replied Wayne hastily.

“Now then. Let’s just move on,” Frank cleared his throat. “The only reason we noticed you were in your la-la land is that you were asked to keep some files and hand them over to a messenger, who will be arriving in the next few days.”

Wayne nodded, “Sure. I will do that.”

“These are confidential files, kid. You sure you will be able to keep them safe?” Frank raised his eyebrows.

“Of course! There is a safe in the office. I will put these there until the guy comes to pick them up.”

“Sure, you are up for the task?” Bob looked at Wayne with an annoyed expression.

“Of course! I will. Don’t worry about it.”

Bob rolled his eyes and a few others looked at him skeptically. “I will. I will keep the files safe,” Wayne tried to assure them.

“You better,” Bob glared at him.

Frank chuckled again. “Stop giving the poor kid a hard time. He will be fine.”

Wayne felt his cheeks flush. He was certainly not a kid and all of them knew that he is good at what