The CEO Above My Desk (Mckenzie Shinabery) novel Chapter 242

Chapter 242

Agent Naomi Bennett

By the time I made it back to the federal building, I felt like I’d been awake for three days straight.

My head hurt. My shoulders hurt. My patience had packed its bags and abandoned me somewhere around the bus incident.

The entire day had become one giant disaster after another. Bombings. Building collapses. Marcus running. Asher flipping. Hundreds of moving pieces all crashing into one another while I somehow stood in the middle trying to keep the entire thing from detonating further.

And through all of it, one thought had continued sitting in the back of my head.

Evelyn Hargrove. Because somewhere beneath all the corruption and lies and dead bodies and coverups sat one simple truth.

People like Marcus didn’t wake up one morning and decide to blow up buildings. People paid them to. People pointed them in the direction they wanted destruction to go. People like Hargrove.

I pushed through the interrogation room door hard enough that it smacked against the wall. The sound echoed sharply through the room.

Richard Blanche looked up immediately. Hargrove looked up a second later.

Good.

Let them be surprised.

Hargrove sat at the metal table with handcuffs around her wrists now, secured to a restraint bar bolted into the table itself. Richard sat beside her with paperwork

read out neatly in front of him, his reading glasses lowered slightly while he reviewed notes.

For the first

since I’d arrested her, Hargrove didn’t look perfectly put together anymore. Her hair had started falling loose around her face.

The makeup beneath her eyes had faded slightly. The confidence was still there. But cracks had started showing.

Good.

I didn’t sit. Didn’t greet anybody. Didn’t bother with small talk.

I walked straight toward the table and planted both hands down hard enough that Richard physically jumped. “Did you or did you not ask former FBI Agent Marcus Hale to murder Rowan Ashcroft and Violet Ashcroft in exchange for money?”

Silence immediately filled the room.

Richard slowly turned toward Hargrove.

Hargrove stared back at me. No smug expression. No irritation. No sarcastic comment. Nothing. Just calculation.

I watched her think. Watched her weigh options. Then finally she exhaled quietly and leaned back in her chair.

11:51 am P

Chapter 242

“…Yes. No denial. No excuses.

Just yes.

Locke shifted beside me.

I stayed completely still. Because somehow hearing her say it out loud made me angrier than I expected.

Hargrove looked down briefly before lifting her eyes back toward me. “I hired him shortly after Drew was murdered.*

Richard turned immediately. “Evelyn-”

She ignored him completely. Apparently she’d reached the point where damage control no longer mattered,

‘Calder was having trouble getting close to Rowan,” she said calmly. “Security around Ashcroft Industries was ridiculous.”

I folded my arms across my chest. “Go on.”

Hargrove rolled her eyes slightly. “He couldn’t even get inside without help.” Then something almost resembling amusement crossed her face. “When he followed Violet into the women’s restroom, he paid almost a thousand dollars to one of the security guards.”

Locke blinked. “…Seriously?”

“Oh yes.” Hargrove nodded. “The idiot took the money.” Then her smile disappeared. “But he still told Rowan.”

I stared at her.

She shifted in her chair slightly before continuing. “Marcus made more sense.” Her eyes lifted toward mine again. “He and Rowan were old

friends.”

Something twisted in my stomach.

“He was handling the investigation itself.” She shrugged casually. “I thought he’d be able to get close again.”

The room grew quiet.

“And Marcus wasn’t exactly known for leaving loose ends.”

No. No he wasn’t.

“Plus,” she added quietly, “I assumed he wouldn’t allow anything to come back and bite me.”

Locke suddenly let out a short laugh beside me. No humor in it. None.

He looked at Hargrove. “So how’d that work out for you?”

Silence.

2/4

11:51 am P

Chapter 242

Hargrove stared at him for several seconds before rolling her eyes. “I didn’t know he was getting assigned a partner. Then she looked directly at me. And then you showed up.”

I raised an eyebrow.

She gestured toward me with her cuffed hands. All professional. All business.”

I stared at her for several long seconds before slowly pulling out a chair and sitting down.

Because suddenly I had an idea. I folded my hands together on the table.

“If you testify against Marcus…” I said evenly, “I’ll put in a recommendation for reduced time.”

The reaction was immediate.

Hargrove straightened in her seat so fast the chain between her cuffs rattled. “Absolutely.” No hesitation whatsoever. “Anything for less time.”

Then suddenly, “Oh no.”

Every head turned toward the doorway. A woman stood there holding a thick case file beneath one arm. Dark tailored suit. Dark hair. Sharp

eyes.

And immediately I recognized the seal printed on the folder. United States Attorney’s Office.

Well… This should be fun.

She walked inside calmly, closing the door behind her. “Evelyn Hargrove?” she asked pleasantly.

Hargrove frowned. “…Yes?”

The woman smiled. “I’m Emily Mulche from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.”

I watched Hargrove’s face immediately fall.

Emily looked toward Locke and me briefly before opening the file. “I have to say,” she said smoothly, “I’m very impressed with what you’ve gathered so far.” Then she looked back toward Hargrove. “But there won’t be any more deals.”

Silence settled over the room.

Hargrove stared. “What?”

Emily flipped through several pages. “You just admitted to hiring Marcus Hale to kill Rowan and Violet Ashcroft.”

She looked up calmly. “That gives me conspiracy to commit murder.”

Another page turned.

“Solicitation of murder for hire.”

11:51 am P

Chapter 242

Another.

“And enough probable cause for me to start digging into every financial account, communication record, and hidden asset you’ve ever touched.

The room went completely silent.

Then Emily smiled again. Professional. Polite. Absolutely terrifying.

“Ms. Hargrove…” she closed the file gently. “You should probably stop talking now.”

Richard finally sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’ve been trying to get her to stop talking for the last four hours.”

Emily turned toward him slowly. “If Ms. Hargrove would like to continue speaking, I strongly encourage it.”

Locke looked toward me. I looked toward Locke.

Because oh my God. This woman was terrifying.

Emily looked back toward Hargrove again. “Everything you’ve said so far has been audio recorded and can be used against you.”

1 Comments >

Comments

RVisitor

Thank you so much for providing continuous updates. This is really a great story. I can’t wait for more.

14 hours ago

<SHARE

目

11:51 am

P

The CEO Above My Desk

Chapter 243