Sentenced to Marriage

Chapter 66

Checkmate

I was no longer in my seat. I was standing by the window-side of the two-way mirror, anxiously waiting for the outcome of the interrogation. Aren was right beside me, holding my hand. Two other agents, like us, stared through the window, counting the seconds until they heard Callan’s confession. Agent Collins grabbed his phone and smirked while going through the information I sent him. He stood that way for a while, knowing that Callan and his lawyer observed his every move and change of expression. Well, if Jack wanted to rob Callan of his smug confidence, then I could see that it was working. “What?” My asshole-of-ex-boyfriend grunted as he couldn’t handle the tension.

Jack glared at him and stepped closer to his seat, looking down at him. “You didn’t go to the Hamptons, Mr. Winton,” he said, putting his phone down with his car route displayed on the screen for him and his lawyer to see. “You went to the abandoned warehouse, in the middle of nowhere.” He chuckled coldly.

“Even so, that’s not a crime, is it?” Callan smirked.

“Not when it is the same place where your abducted ex-girlfriend was,” Jack stated dangerously.

The lawyer interfered in an instant. “I believe that your map doesn’t prove my client’s whereabouts. It only indicated where his car was at the time.”

Jack burst into laughter. “Then, are you suggesting that Mr. Winton went to the Hamptons on foot? What about the receipts from the gas station? Was Mr. Winton tanking some invisible vehicle?”

Callan glared at his lawyer before shifting his eyes to Agent Collins. “That’s it, I am leaving!” he roared, getting up from his seat.

“Get your ass back on the seat!” Agent Collins thundered, then referred to the lawyer, “Mr. Harris, this is the moment you should suggest to your client to be more cooperative. This is a serious matter which

could bring him severe consequences.” The lawyer nodded and leaned over Callan to whisper something in his ear. Callan groaned but finally sat down.

Jack took a seat in front of him and leaned forward, locking his eyes on Callan. “Let me be clear. We know that you helped an organized group to get into the Wintons’ mansion and kidnap your stepbrother’s fiancée. She testified that you were inside that warehouse and that you made a deal with the one who planned the whole thing.”

Callan scoffed. “You have a big imagination, Agent Collins. I was never inside that warehouse. I don’t know anyone, and I didn’t plan anything.”

Jack turned to Mr. Harris. “Advise your client to talk, otherwise it WILL end ugly for him. We have data from cell towers indicating that Mr. Winton was in the area. We know that his car was parked in front of the warehouse for an hour, and we have an eyewitness.”

“An eyewitness?” Callan snapped, ignoring Mr. Harris, who gestured at him to calm down.” She didn’t see me! She couldn’t see anything! She was blindfo-” He froze with his mouth wide open.

I gasped, squeezing Aren’s hand while the two other agents, standing beside us, snorted at Callan’s foolish mistake.

“Blindfolded?” Jack finished the word, one corner of his mouth curling into a cold smirk.

Mr. Harris turned to his client. “You don’t need to answer. You don’t need to say anything.” © 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.

Callan sealed his mouth. His expression lost all of the confidence he had before. His face was turning paler every second. He screwed up and must have finally realized that this wasn’t the time when he could get away with everything. “Mr. Winton, game over. I can charge you with violating several federal laws, including kidnapping, organizing an illegal military group, possession of explosive materials, and attempting murder. We have data from your GPS, proving that your car was there. We have a victim of

your crime testifying that you were there. And I bet that some of the captured mercenaries will eventually crack and indicate you as the main culprit as well…” Agent Collins paused and walked closer to Callan’s side of the table. “But I know that you weren’t the mastermind, Mr. Winton, so why don’t you tell us who the real perpetrator was, and I guarantee that you will get a lower sentence as an accomplice. Your alternative could be life in prison, so think carefully.”

Callan seemed terrified, but I didn’t think that he was afraid of going to prison. Eventually, after discussing the matter with his lawyer, he admitted to being at the warehouse, which was enough to arrest him. He didn’t say anything else. He didn’t even mention that there was another person involved, and since it was the only thing that could save his skin, it could only mean one thing: he was threatened.

I saw Callan getting cuffed with mixed emotions. I didn’t feel that justice had been served at all; not when the guy who planned it all was still out there, and we weren’t any closer to finding out who he was. After the show was over, Jack invited us to dinner-a pizza dinner in his office. We were sitting there mostly in silence, processing the investigation and wondering what we had all missed. Aren seemed lost in thought, frowning. He stayed silent for some time until suddenly shifting his eyes to Jack. “Burner phone,” he said. “He must have used a burner phone to communicate with that guy, right?”

Jack nervously scratched his head full of brown hair. “I guess so, but we didn’t find any other phone on him when we arrested him. If he had one with him, he must have gotten rid of him earlier.”

“What about his apartments or his car?” Aren inquired.

“We checked everything simultaneously, the second he was brought into custody. Nothing significant was found.” Jack sighed heavily before shoving another pizza triangle into his mouth.

“Can I have Callan’s phone?” I asked, turning Jack and Aren’s attention to me. “You took his phone when you arrested him, didn’t you?” Jack raised his eyebrows at me and chuckled. “I know Callan Winton isn’t a criminal genius, but he wouldn’t plan his brother’s murder using his own phone.”

“He is not a complete idiot, but he is lazy. He could use a burner app instead of buying a burner phone. The app can work similarly in many ways. It is said that it permanently erases messages, call registers, changes the number ID, or can even hide the phone’s location,” I

explained.

Aren smirked and slid his arm around my shoulder, pulling me into his embrace. “Will you be able to retrieve the burned data from his phone if he used the app, sunshine?” My lips curled into a demonic smile. “Don’t forget that you married a computer genius,” I said and placed a soft kiss on his lips. Jack rolled his eyes at us. “Get a room, will ya?”

Aren narrowed his eyes at Jack “I never said anything when you and your wife acted all lovey dovey in front of me right after the wedding.”

Jack spread his arms wide. “Hey! I’ve always been the romantic type, so it was different! You are a cold, calculative son of a bitch, and it makes me cringe when I see you looking at your wife like that!”

“Like what?” Aren chuckled.

Jack shrugged. “I don’t know… like you have any emotions within you.” I couldn’t help but smile. The sum of little things like Jack’s words about Aren brought me closer and closer to admitting the truth about Aren and his place in my heart. Every time I looked into my husband’s eyes, I felt more convinced that he was like me-on the verge of saying aloud something that had been obvious for a while now…

***

Jack promised that he would have Callan’s phone delivered to my office in Lan Diamond Corporation the next day. I figured that it would be faster if I worked on retrieving data with Norton and Alan’s help. I was almost certain that I would find something, anything that would help us catch that disgusting guy who

wanted Aren’s dead. I was all fired up about it and couldn’t wait until I got my hands on that data. But that was for tomorrow…

Despite everything that had happened that day, I was happy to spend it with Aren. Even after we left the FBI’s office, we went home together. I guess Aren wanted to make up for the time we’d lost while I was recovering. As soon as we walked into the penthouse, he opened the bottle of champagne so we could enjoy the bubbles while watching the sunset. I loved that moment of serenity, but couldn’t help but wonder if it wasn’t a calm before the storm… “It might be harder from now on,” Aren said suddenly. “Why?” I muttered, nuzzling his chest and sliding my arms around his waist. “We will have our wedding ceremony on Saturday. It will be organized at the Blue Crystal Hotel, and the press will be present. Afterward, everyone will know that you are my wife. You

oranate

will become a target…” he paused as if the words were stuck in his throat. I sighed, leaning back to look at him. “I am already a target, but I will be fine… We will be fine. ” I smiled at him. He kissed the top of my nose and smirked. “I guess I will really have to teach you some defense techniques.”

I blinked my eyes seductively. “I’m looking forward to that…”

It sucked that I promised Miranda that we would restrain ourselves from having sex for the next two to three days. I barely lasted one night in his arms with only cuddling, and if I couldn’t stand it, then it had to be torture for him… Nonetheless, I enjoyed our intimacy. After I had been kidnapped and thought that I might have never seen him again, I appreciated every second with him ten times as much.

***

The sound of the buzzing phone woke me up. I was still half asleep, my sleepy eyes ineptly searching for the source of the irritating sound. Aren woke up right away, swiftly taking his buzzing phone and answering the call.

“Hello?” Aren said before turning on the speaker so that I could hear as well. “It’s Jack.” Agent Collins’s voice sounded angry and nervous. “I don’t know how to tell you this…”

“Just say it,” Aren urged.

I heard Jack pull a deep breath into his lungs. “Callan Winton has just been found dead in his cell. He hung himself.”