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Charlie’s face brightened, “Finally seeing the big picture, Taylor?”
“What did you do?”
“Well it wasn't easy, I will tell you that much,” he said. “Years of planning, actually. But I had to eliminate my competition. One. By. One.”
Taylor’s stomach lurched and it sent bile flooding into her mouth.
The door crashed open from its partially closed position, and four men came in, carrying an unconscious Henry. “Where you want him, boss?” one of the men asked, and Taylor realized it was the agent who had come for Henry earlier, the one whose voice sounded familiar. It suddenly all clicked where Taylor recognized his voice. It was the voice from the 911 call, the one where Cedric’s body was reported.
“Drop him over there,” Charlie motioned to the corner with his head, and Taylor watched as the men dropped Henry’s body in the corner. She was so fixated she didn’t see them bring Nan in until they dropped her lax frame on Henry’s.
“Oh my God,” she whispered, unbidden tears streaming down her cheeks.
“Don’t worry, Taylor, they aren’t dead,” Charlie said in his most gentle voice, “yet.”
“We have the other guards tied up in the mailroom like you wanted,” the faux agent said.
“Perfect,” Charlie said, “and this is everyone, all four of you are here?” he asked looking at each of the men who had just entered, the fake badges still hanging from their necks.
“Yes,” the speaker said.
“Great,” Charlie said to him, “please proceed to the next step.”
The man nodded and motioned his head to the other men, who marched out. As soon as they were out of sight, Taylor heard three gunshots.
Taylor’s chest tightened in horror as the scene unfolded. The speaker stepped back into the room, a wide grin spread across his face as he had completed his task. But as soon as he did, Charlie shot dead center in his forehead, sending him to the floor.
Taylor’s mouth hung open, and she shook as adrenaline and terror raked her entire body. She jerked her hands up to her ears, and just stared at the sight before her.
Charlie turned back to her, his face and body completely at ease, totally relaxed. “Where was I?” he asked, thinking for a moment. “Oh yes,” he said, a joyous smile covering his face, “my takedown of your stupid family.
“At first, I tried to get your uncle to do it, but god damn if that Cedric wasn’t a stubborn son of a bitch.”
“You said…you said he was an addict.”
“Oh, he was and then he wasn’t. And then your mother met Grant and it was stars and moons and rainbows and unicorns and Cedric was seeing double he was so mad. And he couldn’t clear his mind, couldn’t see straight. He was so confused and blind with rage, so I helped him out.”
“You gave him drugs again,” Taylor accused softly.
Charlie shrugged and smirked, the maniac showing his true colors. “It was so easy,” he said with a cruel laugh. “He was so easy to push over the edge, so pliable, it took just a one-finger poke and then he just went into a downward spiral.”
“But just the drugs? He had been on drugs before,” she said, refusing to believe his tale.
“Ah, but when you pair drugs that make you vulnerable with a voice,” he said wagging his finger at her, “then you have a winning combination.”
Taylor thought back to the printouts Cedric had put in the folder. “A transmitter,” she said to him.
“I put it in myself,” Charlie said with pride. “I researched for months the proper product and technique. I had to really knock him out to get it in his tooth just right. The one I used was military grade. I could hear everything he said so crystal clear, and he could hear me just as well.”
The puzzle pieces were all jumbling around in Taylor’s head, as she thought about the other research Cedric had done. “You gave him extra things too, didn’t you? You had his drugs so you tainted them, you put stuff in them.”
“Oh, you bet I did,” Charlie said in a whisper. “It took me a long time to find the perfect concoction,” he said nodding.
Taylor looked at him, trying to find the Charlie she thought she knew. Trying to find him beneath all the evil.
“Charlie, you love this family, you wouldn’t—”
“I did though, Taylor! And that is the beauty of it all, no one would ever believe it!” he said triumphantly. “Do you want to know?” he asked. “I have kept it all inside and buried, I would love to share it with you now,” he bragged, almost begging to share his secrets.